Buying an Autoclave

Are you doing procedures in your DPC clinic?  Should you buy expensive instruments and then sterilize them in an autoclave?  Or should you buy disposable instruments for a one time use?  Here is the conversation:

  1. Anyone have a suggestion on where to get an autoclave at a good price? I’m being quoted $4000, seems like there’s gotta be something better.
  2. I have been buying disposable kits instead of sterilizing. I do mole removals and lac repair but found I don’t do that many a year to justify an autoclave. (Three others are doing the same)
  3. Look at eBay. Ours has worked well for over a decade. Make sure you do monthly spore tests to ensure efficacy.
  4. Got you all beat. Got a used one free from a non profit clinic that closed. But I do a fair amount of surgical stuff, often in referral from other DPC docs, such as vasectomy & large excisions, etc. So I’d have had to find one even if I didn’t luck out. And I also would have gone used. I’ve gotten some great deals on used but like-new name brand surgical instruments.
  5. Paid $1200 for a small used one.
  6. Brand new Ritter m9, manual door, $2500 . Highly recommend medsupplier for big stuff. Their fulfillment is slow but they come through on price. http://www.medsupplier.com/midmark-ritter-m9-autoclave…
  7. A disposable laceration kit on Andameds is about $10. For us it is a lot more cost effective and low maintenance
  8. And you get a bigger tax write off for equipment that costs more than $800. Love our autoclave AND we have nice procedural equipment (I’m kind of high maintenance about my equipment.) I didn’t think disposable kits do a good job…
  9. You are right about that as the equipment and tools pretty much suck
  10. Agreed, disposable equipment is often a crapfest. Hoping to get an autoclave and real instruments within the next year.
  11. It is worth getting! We have the same as Julie from Medline, similar price.
  12. I bought a used one off Ebay for $700…did the job but I hardly used it, and you do have to do the spore tests, which are not free. I ended up selling it to another practice down the road with the condition that I could pop over and use it the 1-2 times a year I need it.
  13. I had found this on eBay – didn’t buy one but another office did: http://www.ebay.com/sch/sis.html.