Technique is a consideration when purchasing a chiropractic table

Few purchases are as important to a DC as an adjusting table. How should you go about looking for one, and what makes a good table?

If you are considering a new table for your practice, it might help to hear from some of your peers on how they go about making this decision.

Our roundtable participants are: Matthew Roller, DC, Roller Chiropractic, Sandy, Utah; Gerald Anzalone, DC, Hudson Valley Neck and Back Care, Peekskill, NY; Jeff Hayden, DC, Hayden Chiropractic, Galesburg, Ill; and Dan Spencer, DC, Contact for Health Chiropractic Center, Hudson, Mich.

What specifically do you look for in a table?

Roller: The table needs to have comfortable padding, but not be too plush as to where it absorbs adjusting force. It also needs a professional look. I like black vinyl with black metal legs. The vinyl is very easy to clean and sanitize.

Anzalone: Functionality, comfort, and ease of use. I decided to purchase mechanical flexion-distraction tables for my practice because they are essential to my treatment of disc disorders, and they provide for effective full-spine intermittent intersegmental traction and joint mobilization. I also decided to purchase some optional functions, including pelvic drops and vertical table lifts, for ease of adjusting and patient positioning.

Hayden: I look for the ability to use my main technique and the few others I use as complementary, and especially the ease for myself and comfort of my patients.

Spencer: We look for a table that will fill our needs, not for one that would require us to adapt our practice. Sturdy construction is important, considering the fact that we plan to use the table thousands of times throughout the course of several years. We also like tables that allow us to perform several different techniques without having to move the patient from table to table. For example, a table that has manual and automated flexion distraction along with drop pieces gives us a lot of options to work with. Hi-lo tables, tilt headpieces, abdominal breakaways, and verti-lift features are also very beneficial for our doctors as well as the patients. If these are available on the table, it really helps.

When you need a new table, how do you go about looking for one?

Roller: I ask other doctors, visit their offices, and try out their tables.

Anzalone: I prefer to view the tables on display at professional seminars, where I can try the equipment, ask any questions that I might have, and make my purchase face-to-face with a knowledgeable salesperson.

Hayden: When I am looking for a new table, I automatically go to the guru of my technique. I talk to Dr Roy Sweat, who is credited with developing the technique I use, atlas orthogonality. He knows best about which table to use for that method.

Spencer: We find that attending our state chiropractic conventions is the best way to shop for a new table. Several equipment vendors are typically present, and each offers an array of tables and options. We can see firsthand how each table functions and the quality of construction. The vendors that we speak with are informative and have truly looked to help us fulfill our needs, instead of just selling us the most expensive piece of equipment available. They have also shown me several options on tables that I otherwise would not have known about. Further, the vendors often display reconditioned tables that are of excellent quality. These are less expensive and therefore a good option for new doctors just starting a practice.

What type of warranty should you expect from your vendor?

Roller: The warranty needs to be longer when you have a higher purchase price, and I would expect all mechanical parts to have a good warranty. Vendors should focus on quality products that they can charge more for at the outset, and avoid service calls. Downtime for a chiropractic table is a major problem for the patient flow.

Anzalone: My tables came with a 1-year warranty.

Hayden: I expect a 3-year warranty, including all parts and on-site service. I can’t lose money waiting for the part to show up. The loss in service is 100 times more than the part and service call.

Spencer: As with any warranty, they usually expire well before the time that you would expect to have problems. A longer warranty is obviously better, but I think that a 1-year parts-and-labor warranty should suffice for an average table. If it is a very specialized, expensive table, I would look for a longer warranty. The bottom line is that you don't want any major disruptions to your patient flow or your cash flow. Again, with the number of times that a chiropractic table is used, we should expect maintenance issues at some point, simply due to wear and tear.

Do you expect the vendor to come to your site?

Roller: No, but I want to try a table before I buy it. That could be at another doctor’s office, or a showroom/warehouse.

Anzalone: Because I purchased my equipment from a small company owned and operated by a chiropractor, I was told at the time of purchase that in the unlikely event that my table suffered a mechanical breakdown, his company would send a repair person to my practice if, after giving me instructions over the telephone, that would be necessary. In fact, my table arrived damaged during shipment, and the owner of the company personally called me, discussed the problem, and shipped a replacement part to my office, which I was able to repair myself without any problem.

Hayden: I personally never expect the vendor to show up at my office, but I do expect an 800 number to call, and I expect ample help to be available by phone when needed.

Spencer: If the table is very basic, I don’t think that the vendor necessarily needs to visit our office. For more complicated tables, the vendor should take the time to educate us on how each feature of the table works. The vendor should also inform us about proper preventive maintenance to ensure years of successful use. If there is a service issue with the table, we fully expect the vendor to take care of the problem quickly to avoid disruptions to our practice. This level of dependability is the most important thing to look for, in my opinion. I recommend asking colleagues about their experiences with various equipment vendors before purchasing anything.

Do you buy or lease, and why?

Roller: I don’t need expensive tables with moving sections, drops, or hi-lo, so I purchased my table outright.

Anzalone: I bought my tables outright, because I was given a discount for purchasing more than one table. The tables soon paid for themselves.

Hayden: I will only buy, and never lease, because the interest rate is often too high.

Spencer: We choose to buy our tables outright and finance them through the Chiropractic Federal Credit Union here in Michigan. Leasing used to offer several advantages, but with tax credits for table features such as verti-lift and hi-lo, and the expanded deductibility on office equipment, buying makes more sense for us. That’s why we choose very carefully to ensure that we will still have several years of productivity out of the table after we pay off the loan. In the long run, that decreases office expenses dramatically. CP