Insurance companies are no longer reimbursing physicians for procedures they used to pay for. As insurance companies become more restrictive in reimbursing private-practice physicians, doctors are faced with a dilemma: They want to provide their patients with state-of-the-art care, but can't afford to do so.

That's where David Bullington, DOTmed Certified President of Bullington Associates Inc. (Spartanburg, SC), comes in.

Bullington quips that his company "provides private-practice physicians with everything but the patient."

In fact, his nine employees sell and service everything from exam tables to sterilizers to more expensive diagnostic devices, such as bone densitometers, at up to a 50 percent discount from the cost of new machines.

"If doctors are looking for diagnostic equipment, given the current state of reimbursement from insurance companies, it makes sense for them to get something refurbished for half the price, as long as they get the same level of results for their patients," Bullington says.

He says that in the niche he's in, he is primarily competing with companies selling new equipment. That makes it all-important to offer a warranty on everything he sells and services, he says.

And Bullington does not shy away from selling new equipment, if that's what his clients want and need. He sells them diagnostic and lab equipment and office furniture.

Meanwhile, he says that having a presence on DOTmed has given him "a forum to source equipment that he doesn't have and also an outlet to sell equipment in new markets."