How clinics work out the payback on a decompression table

Clinics rarely buy a decompression table for its own sake. They buy it to offer a service, and the question the owner asks is how long it will take that service to cover the cost. The arithmetic is simple. The inputs are where the care goes.

The two numbers that matter

Sessions to cover the price = price on your quotation ÷ fee per session

Payback period in months = price on your quotation ÷ (fee per session × sessions per day × working days per month − running cost per month)

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Choosing honest inputs

Price. Use the full cost: the price on your quotation plus freight, installation and taxes, less any input tax credit you can claim.

Fee per session. Use what you charge today for a comparable session, or what patients in your area pay for decompression. If you sell a course of sessions as a package, divide the package price by the number of sessions.

Sessions per day. This is the number most often overstated. New services take time to fill, so it is sensible to model a slow first few months and a fuller schedule once referrals and returning patients build up. Try the calculator with a low figure and a realistic target to see the range.

Working days. Count the days the clinic is open and the table is in use, allowing for holidays.

Running costs. Include the extra therapist or operator time the sessions need, electricity, consumables such as disposable covers, and routine upkeep. A robotic table can free practitioner time during a session, which changes this figure; see manual or robotic decompression.

What the calculator leaves out

• Consultations and other services that decompression patients also book.

• Financing costs, if you borrow to buy the table.

• Depreciation and tax treatment, which your accountant can advise on.

• Space. If the table takes a room that could earn more another way, count that too.

These can move the answer in either direction, so treat the result as a first estimate, not a forecast.

Spinal and knee decompression

The same method works for our robotic knee decompression machine (SMK-90), which has six preset programs and patient records, and for our robotic and manual spinal tables. If you treat both spine and knee, run the numbers for each machine separately and then together.

Next step

When you have a rough payback figure, ask for a written quotation so the price you enter is real. We reply within one business day. Request a quote, or read what decides the price of a decompression table first.