TECHNOLOGY
breadth and scale of their capabilities. Advanced equipment enables medical professionals to generate results faster and with greater accuracy, ultimately contributing to improved patient throughput. Consequently, healthcare finance professionals regard new- generation technology as critical in supporting the progression of their healthcare institution.5 Shortening diagnostic procedures through state-of-the-art equipment and automated processes, as well as improving the accuracy of results, has become essential for healthcare systems as demand rises.6
Against this background, the increased digitalisation of healthcare technology provides important solutions to increase the efficiency and quality of care. For instance, integrated technology makes it possible to combine measurement data from computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance (MR) scans to be automatically translated into personalised prosthetic devices for knees, hips, shoulders, or other joints. This opens the door to automated production of custom-made prosthetics.7
The new
technology promises to sharply reduce surgical planning time for the replacement of diseased joints while improving the accuracy of associated manufacturing processes.8 Additionally, new diagnostic imaging
software shortens radiologists’ reading time by 50% and increases the sensitivity of rib fracture detection by 10%. This leads to faster, more accurate analysis and results in estimated savings of approximately $12 per use.9
reimbursement models and the growing importance of population health management and preventative medicine, digitalised technologies become an ever more important enabler of change. Keeping pace with these and other technological advancements requires considerable capital expenditure. It is becoming essential, therefore, for hospital CFOs to seek new and sustainable ways of investing in new technology. It can be
difficult to justify and prioritise the acquisition of upgraded technology at a time when frontline services are under increasing pressure and hospital finance managers need to cut costs. Asset finance techniques are seen as particularly important to healthcare organisations’ ability to modernise.10
This is With the move to value-based
reflected in the overall take-up rate of asset finance in global medical equipment sales, which has grown annually by an average of nearly 7% over the past two years.11 It is clear that such financing solutions are gaining popularity as a cost-effective investment-enabler.
Asset finance arrangements can also incorporate other costs such as installation and upgrades in line with technology developments. They thus offer improved cost transparency and understanding of the Total
Cost of Ownership (TCO) of the equipment. This, in return, improves financial planning and forecasting for public healthcare institutions. Such financing packages tend to be offered by specialist healthcare financiers, like Siemens Financial Services (SFS), who have an in-depth understanding of the technology and its applications. They are therefore more capable of creating customised offers that fit the specific requirements of a healthcare establishment – for instance, flexing the financing period to suit the organisation’s cash flow. This contrasts with the standard financing terms usually available from generalist financiers. Specialist financiers are usually also able to accommodate for the specific budgetary requirements of NHS Trusts to help them acquire state-of-the-art equipment with bespoke financing solutions. For example, SFS helped Echotech, the largest provider of community-based echocardiography services in the UK, to acquire and upgrade ultrasound equipment. The organisation delivers over 40,000 scans per year for the public sector. Echotech has always prided itself on the provision of a high quality service underpinned by the use of the very latest technologies. Having established itself as a leading provider of echocardiography services for the NHS, the Portsmouth-based company was commissioned by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to provide cardiac screening services across several army recruitment centres. The MoD had found that the service helped considerably in streamlining the recruitment process and wanted the onsite echocardiography screening programme to be mobilised within just a few months across four other military training locations scattered around the UK. To fulfil the request,
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