January, 2014

The survey of 503 orthopedists at institutions including Harvard, Stanford, and the Mayo Clinic considered doctors’ answers correct if they came within 20 percent of what their hospital paid suppliers. The worst guesses ranged from a small fraction of the actual price to more than 50 times what the hospital paid.

AuntMinnie.com presents the first in a series of columns on the practice of ultrasound from Dr. Jason Birnholz, an ultrasound veteran with more than 40 years of experience in this field.

Looking at the financial data from another perspective, capital expenditure for medical equipment replacement overall – including non-IT technology and other equipment – dropped from 30.4 percent in 2009 to 27 percent in 2013 and new medical equipment costs went from 44.5 percent to 13.8 percent, according to Jim Adams, executive director, research and insights, at the Advisory Board Company. During the same period, IT purchases went from 21.8 percent to 24.2 percent.