08.03.12
Time to rent?
Renting services instead of buying them could save upfront costs, reduce issues with managing pathways and allow more trusts to roll-out the technology, potentially benefitting many more patients.
But there are benefits to buying as well, including more control over the overall cost and management of services. Telecare is not something that looks set to decrease in use in the future, with our ageing population it is an industry that is expected to grow.
This means that demand will always be there, begging the question of whether it would in fact be better to buy equipment outright rather than continuously renting.
Buying places a commitment to the service; whereas rented care remains vulnerable to cuts or reductions in the future, dependent on funding.
To buy or not to buy, that is the question.
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