Healthcare equipment financing up in 2008

Last year might still not have been a good one for the financial industry, but that doesn't seem to have slowed down the equipment leasing business. According to a new study by the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association, new business volume for healthcare equipment leasing grew from 8.9 percent in 2007 to 9.2 percent in 2008.

The group, which represents the $650 billion equipment finance sector, shows that overall new business fell 2.2 percent in 2008, compared with a 2 percent growth in originations in 2007. Healthcare services were among the top performing categories, followed by agriculture, forestry and fishing, finance, insurance and real estate.

Interestingly, despite the decline in originations, new business volume by equipment type grew from 6.3 percent in 2007 to 7.2 percent in 2008 for medical equipment.

All told, it looks like the medical equipment leasing business has held relatively steady despite the economic disaster the industry has faced over the past couple of years. The question, now, is when hospitals and healthcare groups will begin buying again.

To learn more about this study:
- read this Healthcare Finance News piece