My dog had MRIs and ultrasound recently. Each event was $700-$900 a pop.
I take my dog for routine full checkup that includes MRI and Ultrasound whenever I travel to south america. They use the same machine brand as in the US, with same diagnostics. I pay $50-$85 over there for the same tests.
Vets over in SA (not business owners) make about $500-$1000 USD per month.
It would seem the huge cost is not from the machine. Its the labor. I think these are the 2 key differences:
a) Based on my understanding, getting licensed in this SA country is a nonissue. There is in fact an oversupply of vets because its easy to practice.
b) The price for the vet studies is on the 2k-5k year for a private U. Compare with US Colleges.
Regarding quality: Our vet in SA diagnosed my dog after seeing the US diagnostic test reports , over whatsapp. She was correct on her diagnosis from the start. It took 4 different US vets, 3 separate facilities, 4 days of hospital bills ($5000) to arrive at the same conclusion that I got from a whatsapp.
It is not the machine problem. It is a captive market with huge costs related to labor.
A new MRI costs ~3 million, has an operational life of 10 years, performs 5000 scans per year, for a total 50,000 people trips.
The people operating the MRI machine are probably payed more than anyone working on the airplane and take vastly more time per passenger.
[0] https://www.careerexplorer.com/careers/magnetic-resonance-im...
I agree that it is a very strange comparison between MRI and a plane, I was just chiming in on the capital and employment cost for each could be comparable on a per trip basis, not that MRI prices are where they should be.
In my personal opinion, a major problem with US healthcare is a race to the top, where the newest and best care is sought irrespective of the price. A judgement call needs to made somewhere on cost/marginal benefit, and post-procedure reimbursement debates is the worst way to do it. CT machines can cost between 250K and 14 million, as I mentioned in a sibling post. Similarly, MRI costs can range from $170-$5,500 [1]. In the current system, almost nobody is incentivized to keep costs down. Doctors and insured patients want the best care, as costs are externalized to the insurance pool. Insurance companies want to maximize costs, because their profit margin is limited by a % of spending.
https://turquoise.health/service_offerings?q=MRI&location=90...
You seem to be off by a factor of 5 or 10.
https://info.blockimaging.com/bid/92623/MRI-Machine-Cost-and...
https://www.pasadenanow.com/main/lab-in-emerging-biomedical-...
Here is a link for a 7 million suite to house one of the machines https://www.dignityhealth.org/sacramento/about-us/press-cent...
While costs for these machines are going down, even more expensive 7 and 10 Tesla machines are starting to be installed, going up to $14 million
Anyway, your estimate seems to be way off, basing it on a 6 year old puff piece for a cutting edge model that was deployed in a lab. The cost for a typical new MRI is more like $500k.
If you ask "How much does a car cost?" The answer is not "Here are some articles about people buying Lamborghinis that cost $250,000".
Most people are using a middle of the road 1.5 T machine.
If your point is that MRIs less than 3T exist, I agree. If your point is that cheaper MRI exist, I agree. If your point is that nobody has spent 3 mil on a CT, then I disagree. A link showing the price of used machines 10-15 years old isn’t going to change that.
You'll hear medical professionals claim imaging is expensive because the machines are expensive. Which just says to me that medical professionals aren't accountants.
Consider a dental w-ray machine. $15-30k. That's the cost of Prius used as a Taxi. You don't pay a couple dollars for a 15 minute Taxi cab ride.
An MRI machine, I forget how much those cost. But whatever, lets compare one with a modern passenger airliner. Cost is about equivalent on a 'per passenger' basis. And an airliner requires highly trained professionals to keep it running.