If the model you are purchasing is basic, make sure the manufacturer has the accessories you need to customize the table. All tables should come with a height-adjustable four section articulating top, full side-rails and a head or foot extension. Armboards, side-rail clamps and Clark sockets are also must have accessories.

As an example, Blue Horizon Medical Services owned by Crystal Leroy has a line of replacement hand control and remote accessories for OR tables. Scott Leroy is Blue Horizon's Chief Technician and says, "The hand controls or remotes that we carry are direct replacements, so there is less to worry about than with other replacement options. They look very much like the original with a more comfortable and easy to hold unit." Blue Horizon also guarantees that the table you purchase from them will be safe and in perfect working condition. "If a table is refurbished properly everything that moves or is hydraulic needs to be replaced," says Crystal. "That includes seals, o-rings, feet, chrome, pumps, springs, rubber parts, gears, hydraulic systems, and the list goes on and on."




Strong Market For Used and Refurbished OR Tables -Buyers Beware
With dwindling reimbursements and mounting operational expenses, ambulatory surgical centers and hospitals are looking for ways to save money. Wendy Sitcer, Marketing Manager for Medrecon, Inc. and Jim Kleyman, President of Ace Medical Equipment, Inc. are two companies that take "refurbished" medical equipment very seriously, because they both feel that there are many companies in the industry that don't. Medrecon offers OR table rebuilding and exchange. In other words, instead of spending money on a new table, a company can have Medrecon ship a company a completely rebuilt OR table, the same model the company owns - The company trades their table for a newly rebuilt one. "Medrecon offers cost conscious hospitals and surgery centers the true alternative to buying new operating room tables by rebuilding their current tables," says Sitcer.

President Kleyman of Ace has a motto, "If we can't fix it, we won't sell it." Kleyman feels that when anyone is buying complex medical equipment like an OR table, they should ask certain questions. "Ask if the company has product liability insurance and if any claims have been filed against them," says Kleyman. "Too many companies in the business say a product is refurbished when, in fact, it is not." Kleyman went on to say that there are a lot of critical steps that must be taken to properly rebuilt an OR table, and many companies just don't have the expertise to do it right. "It's a real problem in our industry," says Kleyman.

More Industry Reports