How much does a CT scan cost the hospital to execute?
If a hospital purchases a machine capable of performing CT scans is the lifetime determined by number of scan performed or on a time basis?
Does each scan require fuel of any brand and, if so, how much does said fuel cost?
I ask because I feel that once the machine is purchased that each supplementary scan is negligible in terms of cost and but every hospital show I watch has eventually brought up fretting about performing the scan due to cost.
Answers:
Im a former repair guy for CT, MRI, and Mammography equipment so I'll try to explain why your bill is as much as it is:
First..the CT. No, it doesn't use any special chemicals, but it uses an ENORMOUS amount of power.
THEN..you have usually 2 techs taking the images..
THEN the films...some hospitals are using a newer dry film processing and some are still using the ripened wet processing..either way picture and processing materials are not cheap.
Then, the cost of maintaining the equipment ( I wasn't cheap back in 2000 so I can solely imagine what it costs now)
and lastly and the most expensive part of it...the fee the Radiologist charges to look at the films and interpret a diagnosis....
Do you hold any idea what the CT unit itself cost? Its a lot...
Yup...its expensive..
As suggested the cost is not strictly determined by the cost of the scanner, which aren't cheep BTW. You hold the cost of a Radiologic Technologist that performs the scan. If the scan requires contrast, that too is expensive and is usually administered by a Radiologist, so they are also present. Then you have the electricity, the physical space, film processing, clerical costs and a levy for the Radiologist to read and interpret the scan. Not to mention there is usually an RN assigned to CT for the patients than need nursing monitoring.
Conventional film runs more or less $6.00 a sheet and the new dry film is about $3.00 a sheet. I didn't mention adjectives of the computer costs. Most hospitals have gone to a digital format and are viewed and read on large expensive monitors, but thorny copies are almost always produced for the medical record.
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Does each scan require fuel of any brand and, if so, how much does said fuel cost?
I ask because I feel that once the machine is purchased that each supplementary scan is negligible in terms of cost and but every hospital show I watch has eventually brought up fretting about performing the scan due to cost.
Answers:
Im a former repair guy for CT, MRI, and Mammography equipment so I'll try to explain why your bill is as much as it is:
First..the CT. No, it doesn't use any special chemicals, but it uses an ENORMOUS amount of power.
THEN..you have usually 2 techs taking the images..
THEN the films...some hospitals are using a newer dry film processing and some are still using the ripened wet processing..either way picture and processing materials are not cheap.
Then, the cost of maintaining the equipment ( I wasn't cheap back in 2000 so I can solely imagine what it costs now)
and lastly and the most expensive part of it...the fee the Radiologist charges to look at the films and interpret a diagnosis....
Do you hold any idea what the CT unit itself cost? Its a lot...
Yup...its expensive..
As suggested the cost is not strictly determined by the cost of the scanner, which aren't cheep BTW. You hold the cost of a Radiologic Technologist that performs the scan. If the scan requires contrast, that too is expensive and is usually administered by a Radiologist, so they are also present. Then you have the electricity, the physical space, film processing, clerical costs and a levy for the Radiologist to read and interpret the scan. Not to mention there is usually an RN assigned to CT for the patients than need nursing monitoring.
Conventional film runs more or less $6.00 a sheet and the new dry film is about $3.00 a sheet. I didn't mention adjectives of the computer costs. Most hospitals have gone to a digital format and are viewed and read on large expensive monitors, but thorny copies are almost always produced for the medical record.
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