Refurbishment is a well-established element of the global healthcare economy and has been there since long and is here to stay till the time there is a need for medical equipments. It is one of the pressing needs in today’s healthcare scenario where quality and cost effectiveness go hand in hand, where budgetary constraints dominate the purchase practices of healthcare providers.
Refurbishment comes across as a step towards increasing ecological consciousness in a recycling economy. Many original equipment manufacturers as well as standalone refurbishers’ have established their separate refurbishing units and have been delivering equipment across the healthcare sector. Much to amusement, refurbishing provides additional value to a new user and reducing the toxic and waste disposal burden.
Indian refurbished medical equipments market can grossly be divided into two kinds of manufacturers: the ones offering life support devices like ventilators and defibrillators and the ones offering the heavier medical imaging equipments like CT scanners, MRIs and the X-Rays. Most of these devices are imported, bought from OEMs and sold in India. A current shift in the ownership model has been observed where the OEMs prefer to set up their own refurbished goods base in emerging nations like India, than to tie up with third party vendors. Most of these third party owners usually act like brokers intending to just sell of the refurbished product; giving bad name and maligning the name of the original equipment manufacturer. Certain backhand knowledge and technical expertise is needed to ensure the refurbishment is carried out properly.
India so far has had no ban on imports of these medical equipments, whether they are high-quality equipments refurbished to the original manufacturer’s specifications or second-hand equipment of undefined quality. India has been quite vocal in introducing many healthcare reforms in order to meet its premium objective of “healthcare to all”. Refurbished medical devices have contributed significantly towards realization of this objective and have been the mainstay of private hospitals, charitable organizations and small scale diagnostics. The onus of promoting this industry is fairly driven by various hospital chains in the country, which are struggling to meet the cost of new imaging equipment despite budgetary constraints and long budget constraints and long budget approval process.
India Refurbished Medical Imagining Equipment Report Highlights: