In the orthotics and prosthetics industry, lifetime and monthly subscriptions are most commonly used to acquire and process software. Let’s detail both of them.
Lifetime subscriptions
This first kind of agreement generally lead to high fees for the user (you) the first year for the software license. Then, a yearly fee to keep support, maintenance and updates.
The problem: this subscription is that you need to make an initial big investment, in addition to a higher risk of overspending because you overpay for what you are actually using.
Monthly subscriptions
The monthly subscription has no initial fee which is great news. On the other hand, that means you pay a set amount per month whether you processed 1 or 100 3D files.
The problem: Lower volumes increase your costs per patient and reduce your profit margin. Whether you are just going through a low-traffic month or managing a smaller volume clinic or C-Fab, you need to get the most out of your operations to manage your growth.
Although these two methods allow you to monitor exactly how much you spend each month, it does not adjust to your sales, and can be challenging to manage cash flow. Besides, these options are not adapted when you have multiple scanners or computer seats because your cost is multiplied by the quantity of scanners you have.
In 2016, TechMed 3D revolutionized the orthotics & prosthetics world by offering a leading-edge payment plan to provide services to clinicians and central fabrication: Pay per Scan (named as pay-per-processed-file). Based on the pay-as-you-go method, this allows you to only pay for what you use, by buying tokens on our website. Buying as low as 25 tokens (25 USD) allows you to have access to all our software functionalities, updates and support at no additional cost.
This way, you can make as many scans as you want, for free, and use your prepaid tokens only when you process a scan to use it for your design and fabrication processes. Plus, you have access to all our services as long as you have at least one token in your account, which has no expiration date. The main benefit of this, is that you have more control on your cash flow because each spending is related to a prescription. No sale, no expense.
Differences between the Pay per Scan and subscription methods
| Pay per Scan | Monthly subscription | Lifetime subscription | |
| Initial fee | – | – | $$$ |
| Recurring cost | Depending on your number of prescriptions | $$/month | $/year |
| Number of processed scans | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| $/scan | Fixed | ↗ scans/month = ↘ $/scan | ↗ scans/year = ↘ $/scan |
| Number of devices per license | Unlimited | 1 handheld scanner and/or 1 Structure Sensor + 1 computer | 1 handheld scanner and/or 1 Structure Sensor + 1 computer |
| Contract | None | None | Annual |
| Support/ maintenance/ update | Up to your last token | Included | Annual fee |
Conclusion
Lifetime and monthly subscriptions allow you to monitor your monthly expenses, but not to manage them appropriately as they don’t adjust to your sales. And for those who have multiple scanners or computer seats, license prices will drastically increase, being multiplied by the quantity you have.
That’s were TechMed 3D decided to shake things up: with the Pay per Scan model, you will only pay for what you really use. Plus, you will benefit from:
- Having access to all our software, updates and support at no extra costs;
- Paying only for the 3D files that you really used to fabricate a product you are selling;
- No initial investment;
- Unlimited quantity of scanners;
- A fixed price per 3D file;
- A total control over your cashflow.
How to get started with Pay per Scan
It has been clearly demonstrated that choosing the Pay per Scan method is a great way to take control of your cash flow by only paying as you go.
Watch in less than 2 minutes how you can use TechMed 3D’s Pay per Scan model:
If you are interested in taking a step forward, learn more about the MSoft software that you can download for free, which allows you to use the TechMed tokens and pay only for what you need. Plus, we can give you a free demo!
