Single-use versus reusable: how the cost case is built

Reusable scopes are usually quoted at capital cost with reprocessing treated as free; single-use scopes are quoted at unit price with the console treated as free. A comparison a finance director will accept carries both columns in full.

The reusable column

• Capital cost per scope, and how many you need to cover the list pattern.
• Expected working life in procedures, not years.
• Repair cost and repair frequency.
• Reprocessing per cycle — staff time, consumables, AER capacity, storage, tracking.
• Downtime, costed as lost activity.
• Scope fatigue.

The single-use column

• Unit price at committed volume.
• Console or processor, bought, loaned or bundled.
• Service plan on the console.
• Storage for a month of stock.
• Waste disposal and the carbon account.
• Wastage — opened and unused, cancelled, expired.

What both columns leave out

Theatre time, infection risk as an expected value, and the fact that most services run a hybrid rather than switching outright.