A group of hospital repair professionals called on the medical device manufacturing industry Monday to give them access to proprietary device repair information for things like ventilators and electrocardiogram monitors.
More than 300 hospital repair workers signed a letter sent to state officials, requesting the ability to quickly repair devices that are vital to caring for COVID-19 coronavirus patients.
Currently, hospital workers must appeal directly to manufacturers for repairs to some devices or to receive certain proprietary parts.
The group of hospital workers and medical device technicians argued that they don’t intend to take business from medical device companies and only want access to resources like owner’s manuals.
“Our goal is not at all different from what the manufacturer is claiming to be, which is patient safety,” said Nader Hammoud, a member of the California Medical Instrumentation Association. “Under no circumstances are we willing to touch any device if we don’t think we … have the proper qualification to touch the device.”
Workers praised some medical device companies for their efforts to provide information to medical professionals. iFixit CEO Kyle Wiens used the medical device company Mindray North America as an example of a manufacturer that provides service manuals on their website.
Hammoud said he’s dealt with situations in which he needed an $80 replacement part for a device but could only get it directly from the device manufacturer, who required installation by one of its own engineers.
As a result, the part replacement cost upwards of $4,000.
“That’s delaying the repair, the service, affecting the patient’s safety and money,” he said. “And then we wonder why health care is so expensive.”
lol same old story get what you want then cry about it
the last 2 sentences say it all
“That’s delaying the repair, the service, affecting the patient’s safety and money,” he said. “And then we wonder why health care is so expensive.”
you can thank OSCAMA for forcing you to get medical on the hospitals terms
you lost another freedom and now the hospitals instead of competing for you
are fleecing you because the law says you have to buy from them
too funny watching people give up their freedom of choice with applause
then crying about how unfair and expensive it is afterwards
welcome to socialism ….wow you wanted this mandatory medical
now you pay for it …..with cash and lack of competence from hospitals to actually help you ….they don’t have to you cant leave ….lol…you have to have it …..omg it amazes me how gullible the people are to simple manipulation by demorat smooth talking politicians
get it you cant leave they don’t have to give you superior care anymore ….your all the same fodder ….and you pay even more for it now with less service
mind you this is no slide to the employees ….who work hard of course but are limited as stated by this article to the maximum care they can give
OSCAMA gave us to corporations for care instead of actual facilities that want to help people and allow their employees to do it
I sure hope those same employees didn’t back OSCAMA on his democrat socialist agenda to force us and take away yet another freedom from us as the destoyerats take down America and get it ready for china communist rule
What are you talking about?
ObamaCare works with the existing PRIVATE health insurance companies, it is not socialism.
Do you even know what socialism is? And how does it apply to ObamaCare and everything else you complain about…
RANDOM TASK -does not know what socialism is. . He completely misses the point of the article. Nor does he understand what the ACA was about. His uninformed opinions are boring.
Rolaids: I’m not sure I follow your logic. So if a paycheck is from the government, then that organization is socialist? So all capitalist governments are socialist? The White House and Congress are socialist because they are financed by the government? That goes around in circles so much I am confused.
And if they get the part and repair instructions are not followed and someone dies the manufacturer gets sued. There is always another side.
It’s called “right to repair” it’s happening in all over. Manufacturers think they still own an control their products even after you purchase them..
The particular machine the story is about saves or can destroy lives. Do you want a part time janitor part time maintenance man repairing the one you are hooked up to. I thought not.
Agree. Doesn’t mean they can’t teach a certify. You probably want at least one person around who know how things work.
A job title does not confer universal expertise. Have had 6 – 8 industrial electricians from our company go to work for bart.
There’s one or two, wouldn’t mind having as a co-worker again.
Reminds me of the arguments are farmers make about having access to parts and repair manuals for new equipment.
Let the Free Market Reign – correct?
No more Government protectionism for these companies – let third-party companies make the parts and keep the government out of our Freedom.
Let these companies COMPETE in the market – not have Nanny State Protections.
That isn’t protectionism, that’s having a patent, which is provided for in the Constitution. Without patents, people wouldn’t bother to invent new things because they wouldn’t get anything for their work.
Socialism
a transitional social state between the overthrow of capitalism and the realization of Communism.
You are not free to choose
You are forced to get it
Also what was the basis of oscamas point for this version of healthcare?
That’s right a socialist mentality of everyone gets to have healthcare
Sounds great
until you realize that you get penalized cash if you don’t get it
And your cost went up and yes you have some choice
but limited and only during their mandated open enrollment or your not allowed to get it
Well unless you want county quality care
Errr so if we have healthcare for all then why are we still paying for county care for illegals ???
So many questions
Few answers
So enjoy your mandated oscama care that was touted as healthcare for all yet was actually a con to push us into servitude for
oscmas financial backers the healthcare provider corporations
You say it’s not socialism but I wonder if this is how it started in Russia and China and Germany
Or do you actually think this is healthcare for everyone like promised ??
Socialism is an economic and political system. It is an economic theory of social organization. It believes that the means of making, moving, and trading wealth should be owned or controlled by the workers. … People who agree with this type of system are called socialists.
Sixty or seventy percent of effective new drug research is generated in the US under a system of capitalism. Socialized medicine relying on paid bureaucrats is not going to develop a solution for Coronavirus, and almost all news stories pointing to progress is focused on US development. If we had Bernie’s socialized medicine, there would be little or no development.
Having said that, the US system of health care delivery is a mess and should be addressed. In the same way robber barons over a century ago prompted legislation, a response is needed now. Capitalism works rather well with competition and information, but the robber barons suppressed the needed competition. The same is true of the medical industry today. If you are in a life threatening situation, and get a surgery that should cost $10,000 (ask the surgeon how much they actually got paid, somewhere between $700 and $1,500) but the hospital charges you $130,000 then the hospital management should be charged under the RICO Act and led away in handcuffs. That is not capitalism, and advocating socialism because society does not have the courage to treat them like 1890s robber barons is ridiculous. Capitalism can deal with the spiraling cost of health care, and it would be nice to give capitalism a chance.
They are not designed to be refurbished or enhanced. The equipment HAS a limited shelf life.
What’s the name of that company that delayed the repair and charged $4k to remove and replace an $80 part. I WANT TO KNOW THE COMPANY WHO is a TRAITOR to the US. I want to know bc this company should be ineligible for ANY government contracts and private companies can be pressured to not buy from a TRAITOR. WTF happened to the big Domestic Production Powers Act Powers – or is this company owned by a Trump supporter getting some payback?!?
For what a hospital charges to put somebody on a ventilator (and what the government is paying the hospital), I expect them to be repaired by professionals who specialize in that field, not by the maintenance guy who works at the hospital. And yes, that;s going to be expensive. You’re paying for somebody to know which $80 part to replace and how to replace it, You know people’s lives depend on these things working properly, right?