I am confused about question 13.

I am hoping if someone could dedicate some time to expand upon this subject in an in depth response.

Thank you so much for your time, you're really helping me out so much.

Case Study: Surgical Robot Arms Race By Jeff Wong, Bellevue College Introduction: In the greater Seattle-Tacoma area, an arms race continues between hospitals to gather the most modern technology available to use on their patients - currently this arms race's primary device of choice - robotic surgical systems. Why robotic surgical systems? These systems in theory allow surgeons to be more precise in performing complex surgical procedures on patients. With greater precision comes a greater chance of successfully healing the patient as well as reducing the patient's possibility for complications and recovery time. In addition to these benefits, hospitals through the use of superior technology can serve more patients and potentially reap greater benefits from Insurance companies and patients for these advanced medical services. The price of this superior care though comes at a cost to the patient (increased charges) as well as purchase costs to the hospital. One of the most popular robotic systems is called da Vinci and is manufactured and sold by Intuitive Surgical (http://www.intuitivesurgical.com/). The da Vinci was FDA approved in July 2000 and can currently perform urologic, gynecologic, colorectal, head and neck, cardiothoracic, and other general surgery procedures. As important as the device is the surgeon that is trained in the use of the system. The more repetitions on the robotic system, the more skillful the surgeon becomes. Depending on the options that a hospital chooses to purchase, the cost of a da Vinci system can range between 1 million and 3 million dollars with the associated sales taxes. As with all surgical instruments, there are also disposable items needed during a surgery associated with equipment - specifically the da Vinci which must also be purchased. These items range from $1,000 to $3,000. Finally, as with many pieces of Page 1 of 7