Hey, there! Log in / Register
And you wonder why hospital stays are so expensive
By adamg on Fri, 11/21/2008 - 1:01pm
Beth Israel Deaconess CEO Paul Levy explains why the medical center is buying a fancy-shmancy robotic surgical system even though it still has its doubts about the thing's clinical usefulness: Basically, all the other hospitals in the area - even some community hospitals - are buying one and BI is beginning to lose business:
... And, these factors are now spreading beyond urology into the field of gynecological surgery. So as a matter of good business planning, concern for the quality of our training program, and to continue to attract and retain the best possible doctors, the decision was made for us.
So there you have it. It is an illustrative story of the health care system in which we operate.
Free tagging:
Ad:
Support Universal Hub
Help keep Universal Hub going. If you like what we're up to and want to help out, please consider a (completely non-deductible) contribution.
Comments
Arms race for the hospital set
The Pentagon does this, too, with weapons systems.
Well....
Can't speak to how generally useful it might be to a hospital, over the long haul, to have a DaVinci system, but personally? It. Rocks. I had a full hysterectomy -- ovaries, uterus, EVERYTHING - in August, and I was out of the hospital in 28 hours. I was walking around a few hours after they wheeled me into my room that afternoon. Although my parents came to help me out for the first week, I really didn't need the help -I was up and around and taking short walks and managing my own affairs from the first day I came home. Recovery was shorter than a traditional (open abdominal surgery) hysterectomy, too -- it was about 1/2 as long. I was back to work in just under 4 weeks. I never even bothered with pain pills after the first 2 days. And the scarring is minimal.
If I had to do it again (which, unless I grow a whole new set of equipment, I won't), I'd go with the DaVinci surgery. Am SO glad my original doctor referred me in the first place.