Advanced TCO Benchmarking for Rollator Selection in Healthcare Procurement

In today’s healthcare landscape, budget constraints are tighter, and procurement teams must look beyond sticker prices when evaluating mobility equipment like rollators. The Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) approach offers a comprehensive view of how much a product truly costs over its lifecycle — including purchase, maintenance, downtime, repairs, and user satisfaction.

This article introduces a practical, evidence-based benchmarking model for selecting rollators, tailored for hospitals and long-term care institutions looking to improve procurement efficiency and patient outcomes.

Segment Rollators by Clinical Use Case

Not all rollators are created equal, and not all units serve the same purpose. A hospital in Munich recently conducted a segmentation study, categorizing its rollators into four groups based on clinical usage:

• ICU/Emergency Use: Heavier, reinforced units for patients recovering from major surgeries.

• Rehabilitation: Foldable and lightweight for daily use during recovery.

• Geriatric Wards: Height-adjustable and easy-to-maneuver models for elderly patients.

• Outpatient Services: Modular units with optional accessories for short-term or rotating use.

Each segment was assigned a set of performance expectations — such as durability, weight support, folding mechanisms, and ease of sanitation. This helped normalize expectations when comparing across brands.

Collect Historical TCO Data Across Segments

Real benchmarking begins with data. At a university hospital in Toronto, the procurement department gathered five years of TCO metrics from their asset management system. The data included:

• Initial acquisition cost

• Delivery lead time by vendor

• Number of mechanical failures per 100 units

• Time to resolve service tickets (SLA adherence)

• Staff satisfaction surveys and patient usability feedback

• Resale or disposal value after 5 years

By organizing data this way, they could identify not just which vendors delivered fastest, but which rollator lines consistently had fewer breakdowns, less downtime, and higher satisfaction.

Build Weighted Benchmark Dashboards

With raw data in place, the next step is creating a TCO dashboard. One large hospital system in Sweden uses a weighted scoring system that factors in:

• 30% acquisition cost

• 20% average repair cost over 5 years

• 25% downtime per year

• 25% user satisfaction (based on staff surveys and patient NPS)

These weightings were agreed upon by procurement, clinical, and finance departments to reflect organizational priorities. Each rollator model was then scored and plotted on radar charts for visual comparison.

Some hospitals prefer scorecards per vendor family, allowing procurement teams to compare entire product lines at a glance. This allows for smarter volume purchasing decisions.

Identify Leaders and Underperformers

Benchmarking isn’t just about numbers — it’s about action. The dashboard in the Swedish hospital revealed two key insights:

1. Vendor A’s top-tier rollator had higher upfront costs but the lowest failure rate and best SLA adherence, making it a strong long-term investment.

2. Vendor B’s budget model, though cheap initially, had high breakdown rates and poor user feedback, resulting in high hidden costs.

Procurement used these insights to renegotiate pricing with Vendor A and phase out underperforming units from Vendor B entirely.

Drive Procurement Strategy with Data

By applying TCO benchmarking, procurement teams gain credibility when requesting budget changes or switching vendors. For instance, when a hospital in Singapore proposed consolidating suppliers from five to two, they used TCO reports to show how the top-performing vendor could meet 85% of clinical needs with lower lifecycle costs.

Key outcomes included:

• Shorter purchasing cycles

• Higher clinician satisfaction

• Improved budget predictability

In addition, these insights supported internal change management. Staff were more accepting of new models when shown data about improved reliability and ergonomic benefits.

Conclusion: Let Data Guide the Decision

Rollator procurement doesn’t have to rely on gut feeling or brand loyalty. With a clear TCO benchmarking model in place, hospitals can:

• Make evidence-based decisions

• Improve supplier accountability

• Reduce long-term costs without compromising care

As one procurement officer put it:
“The cheapest rollator is rarely the most cost-effective one. TCO lets us see the full picture — and negotiate like it.”

For more insights, visit:
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READ MORE：

• Facteurs de Conception et d'Emballage pour des Rollators Plus Efficaces dans la Chaîne Logistique
• Effektiv Leveranskedjeoptimering via Rullatorernas Design och Packsystem
• Design- och Förpackningsfaktorer för En Mer Leveranskedjeeffektiv Rollator
• Scaling TCO-Based Rollator Procurement Across Hospital Systems