The ultrasound purchasing process can be as confusing as anything we deal with in veterinary medicine. Before you go down the route of incorporating ultrasound into your practice and ultimately purchasing a machine and education package ask yourself the following questions:

1. Do I have the time?

Scanning personnel (doctors and/or technicians) must dedicate 1-2 hours/day during the work day to the ultrasound curve over the next year to make the project a truly functional and profitable part of the workflow.

2. Who will take on the learning curve challenge?

The reality is that many practice owners DO NOT climb the ultrasound learning curve well and fall off the process owing to distractions.

Keys to Success:
• Offload the management and daily operations to others within the clinic.
• Must have a true passion for clinical sonography.
• Allocate the time to growing this part of the practice.

3. Should I consider the a technician as a sonographer in my practice?

Leveraging technicians in sonography increases profitability for the practice; it is one of the few ways that techs can directly generate revenue for the practice while doctors are more appropriately dealing with what they can do -surgery, diagnosing and prescribing.

4. Can I Afford It?

Are you economically prepared for the hefty lease or loan for a solid ultrasound machine?
Loans typically range from
$700-$1,000 per month for 4-5 years. When looking at affordability, it's also important to look at utilization, and revenue that can be generated from the services, as well as cases that result from the diagnoses. Request our ultrasound cashflow calculator here.

Ultrasound education? Ultrasound is s very user dependent modality. If you're going to add ultrasound in-house, you will need to factor in a budget for hands-on training. Courses usually average around $2500 for 3-day course. Not all education is created equal! Check out our new Veterinary Education Center, focusing on hands-on ultrasound education.