How to Get a Loan to set up a medical Diagnostic Center?

Many medical professionals have the ambition to set up their clinic, dispensary, or diagnostic center. Right plans and making a roadmap of what to do is vital in case you want to start a diagnostic center. While it is a great step to go in for own’s establishment, one needs to consider several factors before setting it up. Following are some of them:

• Costs involved
  The biggest hurdle when moving forward on any project is the financial feasibility. Establishing a diagnostic center can be very expensive as it needs significant financial investment and hence it might require a medical equipment loan. It is best to keep a ready list of all equipment, maintenance costs, marketing costs, etc. One also needs to do some research on the best financing schemes available in the market, with various lenders.
• Location
  Whatever the venture, location plays a major role in its prospects. It is one of the most crucial factors determining whether a project will succeed or not. For a diagnostic center, choosing an ideal location does not just mean an area close to the city center or marketplace. Proximity to the city center is certainly desirable; however, one also needs to consider the competition. If the area already has numerous diagnostic centers, then the business could be hard to come by or one would have to slash prices. On the other hand, an emerging area, where there isn’t too much competition, is desirable.
  Other factors such as transport connectivity to a particular location, distance from residential areas and traffic density are also crucial.

Types of Diagnostic Centers

Diagnostic centers are usually of two types.

• Clinical Pathology:
  These labs conduct urine tests, blood tests and other body tests to diagnose a particular disease. These days many big hospitals have a pathology center within their premises.
• Radiology Centers:
  These are also called Medical Imaging centers. They are very costly as it requires a set of sophisticated machinery for diagnosing specific medical conditions.
• Equipment Specifications
  To start a diagnostic center, there are lots of conditions depending on the type of machinery you want. The center should be spacious enough to accommodate all the required machinery and yet have ample space for the staff and patients to move around freely. The space shouldn’t appear cluttered. For CT scan machines and X-ray machines, shielding is very important, so that people aren’t exposed to excessive radiation. Some machines are there wherein chemicals need to be discarded after use. It becomes very much important to ensure the safe disposal of hazardous medical waste.
• Staff Recruitment
  Hiring the right staff is as important as the location and the machinery. The staff must be well qualified, dedicated, experienced and possess all the necessary skill sets. Taking the time and carefully hiring staff for the diagnostic center, while it's under construction or being renovated, is the right option as hiring takes time, and you may not come across the most deserving candidates immediately.

Eligibility for a professional loan for doctors to open a diagnostic center:

The eligibility criteria for companies and individuals seeking this loan are:

• Individuals should have a minimum qualification of MBBS or BDS.
• Doctors specializing in Homeopathic, Unani and Ayurvedic medicine can also apply for this loan.
• The age limit for applying for the loan is usually between 25 years (at the time of loan application) and 65 years (at the time of loan maturity) though this may differ from lender to lender.
• If a company is applying for this loan, then the promoters of the said company should have a minimum qualification of MBBS or BDS.
• Certain lenders require that the applicants be members of councils.
• The credit history of individuals applying for medical device loan needs to be clear. They should not have defaulted on any loans in the past. If there are any co-applicants for the loan, then their credit history must also be shared, and it must be clean as well.
• Some banks may also require that you should have been residing at your current address or have had your current office for at least 5 years.
• Some lenders may also require that you have a minimum of 3 years of experience in running a medical facility.

Documents required for a medical equipment loan

• You will need to provide a bank statement for the previous 12 months for a bank that you use for the bulk of your transactions.
• KYC documents.
• Project reports provide the lender with the details of the funding requirements.
• ITR documents and balance sheets of 3 years if applicants are promoters.
• Your borrowing amount will depend on the document you submit. This means that you may not receive 100% funding, but you will still get 80% of the funds as indicated by the projections for the project.

Conclusion

The process of setting up a diagnostic center requires a lot of investment and requires both expertise and advanced machinery in such case medical equipment loan becomes a very nice option. A few step-by-step details need to be followed like factoring the cost and selecting a location, and then sourcing machinery. If you are a medical professional who aspires to expand your diagnostic center but is running short of finance, then Poonawalla Fincorp has got attractive loan options with flexible repayment periods.