Half MD.com: “Medical equipment can be produced at a cheap cost. The current system does nothing to reward us for developing innovative, cost-effective devices. Instead, we continue to throw away money on machines that can be produced by hobbyists for 1/100 of the cost.”
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{ 2 comments }
Yes it is true that the solid state components in these devices are cheap. However, in order to be used for medical purposes so that physicians can make medical decisions based on reliable information, these devices must go through rigorous quality control procedures and calibration at the manufacturing end, and this is a very expensive process. Of course, these devices can be used to increase revenue, and the vendors know this, so they want their cuts of the profits also. This adds more to the costs.
Design, assembly, warehousing, sales, marketing, customer service, etc. are not free. Honestly, a lot of docs have no understanding of business at all. It would be a good experience for this guy to quit medicine, go down to Radio Shack to buy parts, and try to make himself rich in the medical devices business.
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