Veterinary Diagnostic Equipment: 20 Questions Before You Commit

A diagnostic platform affects clinical workflow, staff time, client pricing and practice economics for years. The most important questions are the ones that reveal what happens after the demonstration—when volumes fluctuate, reagents expire, controls fail or the analyzer needs service.

Clinical performance and fit

1. Which species, sample types and analytes are supported?
   Ask what validation evidence and reference intervals apply to the patients you actually see.
2. What are the sample-volume, preparation and storage requirements?
   Include anticoagulant, centrifugation, warming, time limits and common interference.
3. What are the measuring range and rerun rules?
   Understand dilution, out-of-range results, flags and when another method is required.
4. What does the analyzer quantify, calculate or only flag?
   This is especially important for hematology differentials and abnormal-cell messages.
5. When should a result be confirmed or sent to a reference laboratory?
   A credible answer defines the platform’s limitations as clearly as its strengths.

Workflow and quality

6. What is the true collection-to-result workflow?
   Count sample preparation, hands-on steps, runtime, cleaning, review and medical-record entry.
7. What quality-control and calibration procedures are required?
   Request the complete schedule, materials, acceptable ranges and corrective-action process.
8. How are reagent lot changes, maintenance and competency documented?
   The practice needs a repeatable process, not knowledge held by one technician.
9. How are results transferred into the PIMS?
   Confirm the interface, fields, fees, implementation responsibility and downtime workflow.
10. Can we evaluate the system with our staff and samples?
    Use a written protocol that records comparisons, flags, reruns, staff time and consumables.

Economics

11. What is the complete cost per reportable result at our volume?
    Include equipment, consumables, controls, service, labor, waste, expired inventory and reruns.
12. What minimum purchases or test volumes apply?
    Ask how shortfalls are calculated and whether unused inventory can expire.
13. How and when can consumables or service prices change?
    Request the adjustment formula, notice period and any price protection.
14. Which costs are excluded from the quote?
    Probe for shipping, installation, training, connectivity, travel, replacement parts and end-of-term fees.
15. What happens economically during downtime?
    Clarify credits, replacement coverage, emergency shipping and the cost of sending tests out.

Service and relationship

16. Who provides first-line support and during what hours?
    Identify the U.S. contact, escalation path and support available outside normal business hours.
17. What response and resolution targets are documented?
    “Responsive service” is not a measurable commitment.
18. When is a loaner or replacement unit provided?
    Ask who pays shipping and what happens if the same failure recurs.
19. Who owns the data and how can the practice export it?
    Confirm access to results, QC records and instrument history throughout and after the agreement.
20. What are the term, exclusivity, termination and end-of-term obligations?
    Understand renewal, return, purchase options, early termination and required consumables sources.

How to score the answers

Weight the categories according to your clinical use case. A low-volume practice may place more weight on waste and minimum purchases; a high-throughput hospital may prioritize throughput, redundancy and service response.

Red flags that deserve a pause

• Per-test economics calculated only at a volume you have never achieved.
• No written quality-control or maintenance requirements before signing.
• Performance claims that do not identify species, sample type or comparison method.
• A service promise without response targets or replacement terms.
• Pressure to sign before an in-practice evaluation or contract review.
• Unclear access to your own results, QC records or analyzer history.

Related resources

• How to Evaluate In-Clinic Veterinary Diagnostic Equipment
• Veterinary Diagnostic Equipment Costs: What Quotes Often Leave Out
• In-Clinic vs. Reference Lab Testing: Cost, Speed and Clinical Fit

References

1. American Society for Veterinary Clinical Pathology. Quality Assurance and Laboratory Standard Guidelines.
2. Flatland B, et al. ASVCP quality assurance guidelines for point-of-care testing in veterinary medicine. Veterinary Clinical Pathology. 2013.
3. Velayudhan BT, Naikare HK. Point-of-Care Testing in Companion and Food Animal Disease Diagnostics. Frontiers in Veterinary Science. 2022.