The challenge: Doing more with less
Across the healthcare world, leaders are being asked to deliver more: more accuracy, more efficiency, and more access, all with fewer resources.1 Imaging departments, in particular, are feeling the squeeze.2 Patient volumes continue to rise, cases are becoming more complex, and expectations for diagnostic precision have never been higher.3 Yet many providers are still relying on aging equipment that struggles to meet modern demands.4
The drive to innovate has never been stronger, but the challenge lies in navigating capital budgets that delay the necessary upgrades everyone knows are needed.5 Large, upfront equipment costs can delay critical upgrades for years.6 This can result in deferred innovation, widening care gaps, and additional strain on already stretched clinical teams.7
The shift: Flexible payment solutions as a strategic advantage
Innovation in healthcare is no longer just about technology. It is also about access. That is where Refresh Payment Solutions from GE HealthCare comes in. It rethinks the procurement model by helping to remove the budgeting roadblocks that can slow progress.
Instead of waiting for capital approval cycles, organizations can invest now with predictable monthly payments and zero upfront cost. This approach helps align technology upgrades with real-world financial realities, helping to allow healthcare leaders to support innovative care delivery today and well into the future. This can result in faster workflows, improved image quality and a better experience for both patients and providers.
Benefits beyond the balance sheet
- Clinical impact: Upgrading to our latest MRI, CT, and X-ray systems can help enable more efficient exams and help improve patient experience
- Operational efficiency: Planned upgrades can reduce downtime, extend system life, and help improve day-to-day performance.
- Flexible payment options: Fixed payments without inflation risk fluctuations can help create stability, transparency and more room to invest in patient care.
How Refresh Payment Solutions works
The concept is simple but powerful. Providers choose eligible upgrades and spread payments evenly for up to 36 months. With transparent terms and predictable payments, providers can plan confidently, helping them to deliver steady, reliable access to the tools that can help drive high-quality care.
Because no two healthcare organizations are alike, GE HealthCare works directly with each provider to design a plan that fits both clinical needs and investment strategy. Availability may vary by region, but flexibility is built in everywhere.
Best practices for leaders considering payment flexibility
- Evaluate the total cost of ownership: Look beyond the purchase price to include service, software, and upgrade paths.
- Align with clinical priorities: Time your upgrades around evolving patient and program needs.
- Engage stakeholders early: Bring finance, operations, and clinical teams together from the start for strong alignment.
- Plan for the future: Choose a payment solution to help support long-term readiness.
Looking ahead: The rise of healthcare as a service
The next era of healthcare technology will not be defined only by new machines. It will be shaped by how seamlessly organizations can adopt and scale them. Subscription models, AI-driven updates, and modular platforms are paving the way toward a healthcare-as-a-service future.8
In this environment, innovative payment solutions can help support clinical innovation. Flexible payment options can help forward-thinking leaders shape what comes next rather than just keeping pace.
A call to action
Healthcare seems to be heading into a period of transition.9 Patients should not have to wait for budget cycles to benefit from technology advances. By reimagining how equipment is budgeted and paid for, providers can help unlock innovation quickly and sustainably.
At GE HealthCare, we believe that budgeting and investment strategies should help accelerate progress, not hold it back. With Refresh Payment Solutions, we are helping healthcare systems afford access to the imaging technology they need, when they need it, so clinicians can focus on what matters most: leveraging innovations to help deliver high-quality patient care.
Footnotes:
1. Forvis Mazars. Mindsets 2025 Healthcare Executive Leadership Report. 2025.
https://www.forvismazars.us/forsights/2025/05/mindsets-2025-healthcare-executive-leadership-report
2. Stempniak M. 9 trends to watch in diagnostic imaging. Radiology Business. June 10, 2025. https://radiologybusiness.com/topics/healthcare-management/healthcare-economics/9-trends-watch-diagnostic-imaging
3. Fairbourn R, Bawa A. The growing demand for imaging services: key trends shaping the future. Vizient. June 3, 2025.
https://www.vizientinc.com/insights/reports/diagnostic-imaging/the-growing-demand-for-imaging-services-key-trends-shaping-the-future
4. COCIR. Medical Imaging Equipment Age Profile & Density – 2023 Edition.
https://www.cocir.org/publication/cocir-medical-imaging-equipment-age-profile-density-2023-edition-2/
5. American Hospital Association. America’s Hospitals and Health Systems Continue to Face Escalating Operational Costs and Economic Pressures (May 2024).
https://www.aha.org/system/files/media/file/2024/05/Americas-Hospitals-and-Health-Systems-Continue-to-Face-Escalating-Operational-Costs-and-Economic-Pressures.pdf
6. ECRI. “Why Capital Equipment Planning Is the Next Frontier in Healthcare Finance” (Aug 12, 2025). https://home.ecri.org/blogs/ecri-blog/why-capital-equipment-planning-is-the-next-frontier-in-healthcare-finance
7. COCIR. Medical Imaging Equipment Age Profile & Density – 2023 Edition.
https://www.cocir.org/publication/cocir-medical-imaging-equipment-age-profile-density-2023-edition-2/. American College of Radiology. “Radiology Workforce Shortage and Growing Demand: Something Has to Give” (ACR Bulletin). https://www.acr.org/clinical-resources/publications-and-research/acr-bulletin/Radiology-Workforce-Shortage-and-Growing-Demand-Something-Has-to-Give
8. Healthcare as a Service (HaaS): What it means and why it matters in 2026 https://www.pragmaticcoders.com/blog/healthcare-as-a-service-haas. Healthcare AI: From point solutions to modular architecture (McKinsey) https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/healthcare/our-insights/the-coming-evolution-of-healthcare-ai-toward-a-modular-architecture
9. Patterns in the influence of funding and reimbursement on the development and implementation of healthcare innovation: A systematic review. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2199853125000253
JB12988US
