A Few Reasons To Buy A Portable Ultrasound Machine For Your Private Practice

Running your own private medical practice takes time and costs money. Spending tens of thousands of dollars or more on a workstation ultrasound machine is probably unnecessary. While you can always send the patient to a diagnostic imaging center or an emergency room if you need to see what is going on inside his or her body, there are some very good reasons for having a less expensive, portable unit right in your office.

Immediate Diagnostics

If you send your patients to an imaging facility, you will not have the results from the ultrasound scan for a few days, or even a week or more. If you are concerned the problem may have the patient in immediate danger, having a unit in your office lets you know immediately what is going on. While the images may not be as high definition as a workstation ultrasound, they are accurate enough to let you know if the problem is life-threatening or if you can take your time and have further testing done.

Patient Education

When you send a patient elsewhere for an ultrasound, he or she may be allowed to see the screen and told a few basic facts, but a sonography technician is not allowed to go into detail with the patient.  You can show the patient everything and explain it as you do the scan when you have a portable unit in your office. Allowing the patients to see, in real time, what is happening inside their bodies helps them to understand the importance of following your instructions for how to care for a problem. The patients will also learn what the different signs and symptoms they experience mean to their internal organs. This is a very effective tool for involving the patients in their healthcare so they get better sooner.

Increase Revenue

Hospitals and imaging centers charge anywhere from $100 to $1,000 to do an ultrasound exam. They feel this is necessary to recoup the cost of the unit and to pay for the technicians who perform the scan. If you were to charge only the $100 for each exam, you would have the unit paid for and be making a profit rather quickly. Of course, it will be your decision as to how much to charge, and may even charge the patient on a sliding scale if you know there is no insurance or a high deductible to be met.

Having a portable ultrasound machine in your office is smart. When you consider the benefits you will see they outweigh the fact the device is a bit expensive. Your patients count on you to provide the best medical care possible; having an ultrasound machine helps you to do just that.