Old Film vs. Digital Images

It’s the moment you aren’t anticipating: your film processor stops working again. Once again, you call out the serviceman to fix the broken film processor for what seems to be the millionth time and wait for what is surely to be another large invoice for the repairs of the outdated film processor. Can you identify with this situation? Are you that person who asks yourself, why do I continue with the torture of pouring money into something that keeps breaking?

There comes a time when every business owner needs to step back and look at the dated equipment in their office and say to themselves, should I keep buying this expensive film and fixing my processor or should I just make an investment for my practice by going digital?

One of the main concerns of going digital is the cost that is associated with updating to digital xray equipment. There are several different variables in cost with going digital depending on the scale of need for your office. In most cases, it benefits practices operationally and fiscally to go from film to digital with their x-ray. Cost of film is increasing weekly, monthly and yearly and I can guarantee you will not see a decline in film prices in the future.

Case in point: I have a client whom I spoke with about his monthly cost of film for his practice. He stated that he spent up to $600 monthly on film, chemicals and his processor and has been doing so for the past 3 years. I recently priced him out for a DR Panel because he was interested in seeing how much it would cost for him to go digital. With some help from our in house financing partner we got him set up for a payment plan very close to that $600 figure to go digital. The resolution of this case would be that my client now has a tangible asset with his new DR Panel that will continue to hold a monetary value throughout its use in his practice. In his case it came down to one big question when considering going digital: Do I continue to spend money on film or do I make an investment for the future and go to digital equipment? When comparing his $600 monthly expense being spent on digital, it made this doctor realize he was throwing money away on an intangible asset with zero monetary value every time he purchased film.

At the end of the day, switching from film to digital really has no effect on your patients and the care that you provide for them. Internally, going from film to digital on your x-ray equipment will improve the value of your office in a fiscal and operational standpoint. The example above is a main topic that we discuss with doctors on a daily basis. So take a few minutes out of your busy day and think about whether you want to make the investment for your practice and move to digital x-ray equipment.