10 Ways Buying Digital Radiography is like Buying a Used Car

The improvement in the quality of digital radiography systems in recent years has narrowed the playing field. As a result, digital radiography sales has become very competitive. Some vendors are now employing some unsavory sales tactics that make buying a veterinary digital radiography system like buying a used car.
When shopping for a car, there are a few rules that are recommended to help you get a good deal. Unfortunately, these also apply to buying a digital radiography machine.

1. Do your research first. Create a budget. Get comparison prices: Research means knowing what your needs are and knowing the market value of the systems you are evaluating. A digital radiography purchase is more than the detector. You must know about your needs with regard to servers, workstations, service contracts, PACS, DICOM, software functionality, image archiving, and teleradiology. Talk with practices that have the system. Talk with radiologists who have experiences with these systems. Get on VIN and ask some questions. Hire a consultant.

2. Don’t wait for your clunker to die before buying a new digital radiography system: You need to make the sales process occur on your time line and on your terms. If you are in a rush to buy because you need a new system or because it is the end of the year and you want to get that tax break, you are more prone to making a decision you will regret.

3. Get the bottom line price and don’t think in terms of monthly payments: A good bet is to divide up the digital radiography purchase into smaller chunks so you understand what you are buying and how much it costs. Do your best to understand how much you are paying for the server, workstations, monitors, x-ray machine, detector, warranty, PACS, and extras such as off site backup. If you are buying a DICOM compliant system, you may even be able to save thousands by getting different items from different vendors. This is especially true with ancillary services such as remote archiving and teleradiology. Ancillary services should be negotiated separately

4. If they don’t put it in writing it means that they won’t do it: This is self explanatory. Don’t be afraid to ask for things in writing.

5. Watch out for hidden fees and extras: Negotiating the price of the digital radiography system may be the tip of the iceberg. Don’t get surprised by things like delivery charges, charges to take away your old x-ray machine, service contracts, additional workstations, or hooking up other modalities to your PACS. Many times these items wont show up on the invoice until after you negotiated a "general" price for the digital system. Understand the “out the door” cost to you. An even better way to compare the cost of systems is to look at the total cost of ownership over 5 years.

6. Don't Let Them Wear You Down: I have had discussions with veterinarians who are so tired of shopping and so confused about the different systems, they are ready to pay anything. Don’t let this happen to you. If you know what you want/need and you know how much it should cost, you wont have this problem.

7. Don’t be fooled by bogus discounts: Beware of generic "discounts" that appear on your sales invoice. In order to determine if you are getting a discount, you must negotiate the price of the system BEFORE considering any discounts or add ons. Volume discounts, discounts for laboratory servers, or even add ons such as ultrasound machines or monitors, can be very misleading. The best way to shop for a system is to know your needs, negotiate each part of the system separately, and know the market value of the system you are researching.

8. A good deal isn't just the lowest selling price. A good deal means going with a company that will be there to support you down the road. If your machine is broken, it doesn’t matter how much money you paid for it. Take a good hard look at your service contract and understand what it included. Many veterinarians are horrified when they realize that they are paying thousands of dollars a year for a service contract that states that the vendor has weeks to fix the machine and the veterinarian has no recourse if things are not fixed in a timely manner.

9. Leave mudslinging and emotion out of the sales process: Watch out for vendors who routinely slam the competition and disparage others. Force the sales person to explain why you should buy their system and NOT why they think the other vendor stinks. Chose a salesperson who you trust and would like to do business with. Remember, you are entering into a long term relationship with this person.

10. Don't fall for high pressure sales tactics: There should be no rush to purchase any piece of medical equipment that can cost m ore than the price of a car. If anyone pressures you to make a purchase, walk the other way. Deadlines are one way vendors pressure veterinarians to make a quick sale. In nearly all cases, the deal wont "expire in 48 hours" and that deal that is only good "until Monday" probably won’t change if you wait to make a decision until next Tuesday.

BONUS: The morning after email: Get ready for the real hard sell. Don't be surprised if your salesperson hears that they lost a deal and sends you a nasty (evil) email explaining how you are a fool for not choosing their product. You can also expect them to really tear into the competition. At this point, the sales person has nothing to lose. Don't be surprised if that friendly salesperson turns into a demon. The goal with the morning after email is to make you feel bad about your decision, play on buyer’s remorse, and get you to cancel your order. Don’t fall for it. They are just playing on your emotions.

Bottom line: If you want to get a good system at a fair price, you will have to do your research. There are some vendors who will make the sales process a real headache for you but there are also many very good vendors out there who have great systems and across the board pricing that don’t play these used car games.