'Unfortunately our current healthcare systems is extremely costly and inefficient in delivering quality care. '
- speak for the US. The rest of the world doesn't do too bad a job.
The problem with ultrasounds is that it is not the sort of device that can simply be given to someone and used. Both the operation of the device and the interpretation of the image are highly technical skills, with high false positive rates.
I maintain that making ultrasounds portable enough to be used be all would only further drive healthcare costs up, as frivolous expenditure on a gimmick is wont to do. Pretty much the same as much of the 'wearables' market.
I don't disagree that other people can have insight into the problems the health sector faces, and towards innovating within, but maintain that most tech driven solutions (ie electronic medical records) are fucking atrocious, because they have been designed by technical people who don't understand. The workflows. Unfortunately these systems are now entrenched, and cost a huge amount of end user time (a 2011 Deloitte study on the introduction of FirstNet into Australian emergency departments determined that introduction of the system lead to a 20% decline in productivity. It was implemented anyway, with the hopes that there would be synergies gained over time. No follow up study has been performed however the overwhelming consensus from the frontline troops is that when we loose network access, an event which occurs around 6 times annually for periods of up to 8 hours, productivity and workflow improve substantially)
The problem with ultrasounds is that it is not the sort of device that can simply be given to someone and used. Both the operation of the device and the interpretation of the image are highly technical skills, with high false positive rates. I maintain that making ultrasounds portable enough to be used be all would only further drive healthcare costs up, as frivolous expenditure on a gimmick is wont to do. Pretty much the same as much of the 'wearables' market.
I don't disagree that other people can have insight into the problems the health sector faces, and towards innovating within, but maintain that most tech driven solutions (ie electronic medical records) are fucking atrocious, because they have been designed by technical people who don't understand. The workflows. Unfortunately these systems are now entrenched, and cost a huge amount of end user time (a 2011 Deloitte study on the introduction of FirstNet into Australian emergency departments determined that introduction of the system lead to a 20% decline in productivity. It was implemented anyway, with the hopes that there would be synergies gained over time. No follow up study has been performed however the overwhelming consensus from the frontline troops is that when we loose network access, an event which occurs around 6 times annually for periods of up to 8 hours, productivity and workflow improve substantially)