The medical device market has traditionally evolved around a capital equipment acquisition model in which customers, such as hospitals, clinics or other providers, purchase or lease the equipment and separately purchase consumables and/or maintenance. However, increasing cost pressures, longer equipment approval cycles, tighter service margins, and the move toward outcome-based medical insurance reimbursements are combining to make the capital expense model less attractive to health providers.
In addition, medical device vendors are interested in finding ways to make revenues more predictable as opposed to the inherently spiky revenue seen from large equipment sales.