Out of the eight finalist in the Wharton Business plan competition 09 ,four had plans for the healthcare sector .A telepresence glucometer which looks like a watch , a software platform to book and re-book patients to increase show rates,a artificial eye whos pupils dilate, an a device to measure wound depth .Guess what thats 50 percent.So is the rest of the sectors sleeping when it comes to innovation or is it that health care innovation has become a fad. More so the latter I think .
The funny thing is that everybody on that side of the atlantic ( read America ) believes that health and health care reform is their prerogative.The populace who suffers the most probably should be the one calling the shots.America today stands as the biggest distributors of calorigenic food to the world.And probably the biggest consumer too.
A country which is squashed by the weight of its obese teenagers ,stands watching for every health care innovation that can earn it a buck on .
It is'nt a surprise then ,that the machine to monitor wound depth got the prize.Why wouldnt it.It is a cash cow.It costs 35000 dollars, has a bunch of patents , probably a researcher whos done is Phd on wound depth , a group of physicians who would love to sell you the idea that if you dont measure wound depth ..how the hell will you heal the wound. A bunch of physicians who want to retrain the whole world and tell the physicians all over that the way you treat diabetic wounds is wrong.Another gimmic to reinvent the wheel for all of us.My sarcasm cant pour out any more........... .These are the new American Association of Diabetic Wound Guidelines ...and these are the recommendations from a Multi Center Randomised Control Trial on wound depth management and .....here is the evidence based current practices for diabetic wounds....and here..is the saviour..the machine to measure wound depth ...a must in a every new clinic ..a must in every new establishment which is accredited .........The new bar is set in wound care.Meet it or you will lose your accredition ..........The 35000 dollars it costs...is incidental expenses. You should be able to foot the bill....If you can t how will we run this trillion dollar economy .
Well the fact that the first prize goes to the NIR diagnostics team which are behind this device just shows the contorted mind set .The man who was selling prevention was over ruled by the man who was selling treatement .The man who was selling the watch with a glucometer to make patients more aware of the narrow breadth of control they have to maintain on their blood sugar ,was the man closer to science .His device costs a lot less and will prevent the huge chain of events which will eventually lead a diabetic to get a diabetic ulcer .But then if you prevent them ..how the hell will the drug companies ..the wound care product companies and all the other intermediaries ( read : VAC pump machine makers, Trial coordinators, Accredition agencies ) who feed off these wounds make enough money .
If this competition represents a populist thought ,its a pity that the ever pervasive capitalist sentiment of the west shines so shamelessly on health care .
The link to the competition site:
http://bpc.wharton.upenn.edu/index.html
Sunday, May 17, 2009
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1 comments:
Well, generally if you ask my opinion on anything, i tend to take the opposing view - thats just me, a contrarian/argumentative kid. This means you will find me arguing on both sides on occasions and hence says very little about consistency on "my view".
Anyways, with that caveat here it goes -
There are a lot of blogs that essentially are a medium for expressing views on the fallacies of American/western capitalism. On various issues/topics - I have also voiced my discontent for the "western/capitalistic" way of doing things. Although healthcare is not my forte per se, but i dont see anything fundamentally wrong in the current approach of putting bets where money can be made. Its not ideal, especially when healthcare is about saving lives and progressing our knowledge, but its a practical approach - a necessary evil.
While pharma in the US is very heavily driven by patents and pricing "new" drugs that are essentially the same as the old one for pure monetary gain, I am schocked to find that most ground breaking drugs come from the US or multinationals who have subscribed to the principle of playing with patents to gain $$$.
Coming back to healthcare, in short, yes folks which make cash cow projects will be rewarded sooner by the "sponsors" - its only practical - fair? maybe not. But whats amazing about the this system is that its a pendulum, which swings between the "principles of ruthless greed/reward/competition" (read rightists/republicans) and the "principles of pure fairness" (read leftists/democrats).
PS: and yes, I also think that healthcare innovation is a fad these days....but hey why not? Obama has made healthcare and energy a priority by throwing in more money than the govt has ever spent on any sector. So yes the media/industry groups/and the healthcare wannabes are excited as hell like they never were.
With so much murmur and money to go behind it, people will try to "innovate" new products - to make some bread or get a little richer (maybe get a little dose of satisfaction/gratification as well). I am ok with that....coz i really shudder at the thought of the alternative, when people have no incentive to innovate and do new things. satisfaction maybe....but money invariably brings you to your knees, when you have responsibilities to work for.
oops sorry too long a rant...i hope you get the gist of my arguments
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