Many facilities rely on quality, refurbished dialysis equipment that has been meticulously serviced. "Our factory-trained engineers ensure that all dialysis machines are reconditioned to meet OEM specifications...that you would expect from a new machine," says Benhur, who has been in business for 24 years. "The value is great. You pay less for the same thing," he says of the popularity of quality used equipment in a variety of clinical settings.

For hospitals and clinics, independent service providers (ISOs) are a source for affordable equipment and back-up units as well as the disposables needed for dialysis such as blood lines, fistula needles, on/off kits, and dialysis solutions.


Most hospitals have their own technicians but ISOs can also provide service contracts for the equipment and water treatment systems. "I provide service to the dialysis centers and to hospitals that don't have their own service engineers," says Joe Joseph, CEO, 3J Medical, Copiague, NY. "We can put a technician in the hospital [dialysis unit] while they are open and maintain equipment as per manufacturers' recommendations. The technician is trained by the manufacturer and certified."

Business Implications

Chronic kidney failure affects about 1.5 million people worldwide, according to leading OEM Fresenius Medical Care. (Other top makers of dialysis equipment include Baxter, B. Braun, Althin, Cobe, Gambro, and others.)

In addition to being a life-sustaining imperative, dialysis is a steady subset of the health care industry. Dialysis patients are repeat health care consumers who must be treated 3 times per week for about 4 hours. More frequent sessions are sometimes prescribed, usually 2 to 3 hours in duration and given 5 or 6 times per week. Alternatively, treatments can be given overnight or at the patient's home.

There are about 4,000 dialysis centers in the U.S. with about 400,000 patients undergoing treatment. Not many centers are hospital-based, although hospitals run smaller units to support admitted patients who are later referred to satellite units. Two major companies run most of the nation's dialysis centers. Fresenius Medical Care and DaVita. Each own more than a thousand facilities.

In addition to augmenting the biomedical resources for hospitals and reducing capital costs through used equipment, many ISOs purchase older dialysis equipment from hospitals for export overseas where the need for dialysis services is dire and equipment scare. Several registered users on DOTmed.com run dialysis clinics in India or help support them through equipment acquisition.

More Industry Reports