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More bang for your buck: Lasers

by Carol Ko, Staff Writer | August 01, 2013
From the August 2013 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine

While our laser experts gave us several different useful tips, the one point they all stressed was this: treat your lasers like a business asset. This not only means performing regular preventative maintenance but also doing your research with sellers to ensure you get what you pay for. Below are a few tips to ensure your lasers give you the best return on investment.

  • Hand-me-down. “Take care when handling hand pieces,” says Eric Graham, national sales director of Phase 2 Laser. Dropped and broken hand pieces account for a significant bulk of downtime and expenditures.

  • Know the total cost. Find out beforehand if your laser will require any disposables, such as tips or dye packs. “Some can be difficult and/or expensive to procure,” warns Joseph Wydra, owner of Asher Haley Surgical, Inc.

  • Housekeeping. Two other mistakes that cost customers dearly include filling the reservoir with the wrong type of fluid and failing to keep the lens clear of any debris, according to Graham.

  • Switch it out. Most lasers have an internal cooling system that require flushing and filter changes. “Not switching these out on a routine basis can result in serious damage to the laser cavities, costing many thousands of dollars,” says Douglas Greif, owner of Vital Medical Technologies, LLC.

  • Practice run. Some lasers actually require being turned on and run for a period of time if not being used, according to Wydra. This will ensure the laser is operating correctly when a procedure is scheduled.


  • Better safe than sorry. To guard against unscrupulous sellers, Graham advises customers to get a video of the device operating, including the serial number, and ask to pay by escrow, releasing the funds only after delivery and inspection of the device.


  • Do your homework. Find out if the company is just a reseller or an actual service provider who would maintain the equipment during the warranty period, advises Wydra. Inquire about the service costs after the warranty period is over.

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