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Small specialty hospitals and centres are acquiring latest equipment and technology, investing a significant portion of their annual sales in a single machine to specialise in their niche areas in order to attract high-end customers from corporate hospital.

Last month, Delhi-based Bharti Eye Hospital purchased First LenSx Femtosecond Laser costing about Rs 3.5 crore which reduces complications in laser cataract surgeries to almost nil and increasing safety profile significantly.

 Though procedures done using this machine will be three times more expensive than conventional cataract surgeries, Bharti Eye Hospital's medical director Dr Sudhank Bharti is confident that the demand from high-end patients will be enough to recoup investments in the machine within next 3-4 years.

"The pool of patients who want best services with no cost limitation is fast of increasing," he said. In addition, foreign patients, particularly NRIs, will also provide a customer base for this kind of premium surgery. Similarly, MuljiBhai Patel Urological Hospital, a 140-bed charity centre in Nadiad Town of Gujarat, has acquired robotic-assisted surgery equipment, which costs about Rs10 crore.

The hospital's medical director, Dr Mahesh Desai, said the hospital was among the first 10 in the country to get this equipment, when it bought the system about a year and half back, joining the league of corporate heavy weights Apollo Hospitals and Fortis Healthcare.

AIIMS was the first to get this equipment about 5-6 years back, he said. "We provide the best treatment because charity cannot come ahead of life," he said. He declined to share the financial details of the company. According to Johnson & Johnson Medical India Managing Director Vaidheesh A, there is a "new trend" among smaller hospitals in bigger cities to invest in latest medical technologies for niche specialties, partly necessitated due to competition from large corporate hospital chains. Medical Equipment Manufacturer in China

"They need to differentiate themselves with the best technology and equipment to build their practice and reputation," he said. Increased access to health insurance coverage has also enabled patients to seek superior standard of care, which in turn enables hospitals to recover their investments in these high-end technologies, he said.

Medical equipment companies such as Philips and GE have financing arrangements and flexible payment options where hospitals pay part of the money upfront and rest over installments. A doctor, who runs an ENT centre, said for corporate hospitals investing in such costly equipment doesn't make economic sense as they treat fewer patients in these categories.