CUTTING REMARKS
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I also love when a salesman extols the virtue of a product, only to tell
you that "it's not available yet." One such vendor exclaimed that his
scope had a variable lens, adjustable from 15 to 90 degrees so there
would never be a need to change instruments. Excited about this
prospect, I was next greeted with the statement, "We don't have it
today." Ouch! Why did you mention it? Is this some sort of mind game?
• Musical chairs.
The most inconvenient aspect of the great evaluation
is the endless stream of differing products, each with their own pecu-
liar settings and attachments to the arthroscope. Just when I figure
out product A, the next case welcomes me with product B.
One system required a PhD in mechanical engineering to discern
how the scope coupled to the camera. MacGyver would have had
problems with this one! Another had more buttons than my TV's
remote control. Every time I hit what I thought was the TAKE PICTURE
function, I was hitting WHITE BALANCE. The poor patient never got to
see any pictures of his surgery, but boy, was the view clear!
And lastly, one product was laden with more tech features than the
Apple Store. It was iPad-compatible, Windows-compatible, Wi-Fi-com-
patible and electronic medical record-compatible. There was one
problem … it wasn't surgeon-compatible. Bill Gates couldn't figure
out all the functions.
Just doing their jobs
In the end, I must concur that most vendors are truly good people,
merely doing their jobs. But thank God, the sales show only happens
every few years. OSM
Dr. Kelly (
johndak 4@g mail.com
) is an orthopedic surgeon/ sports-shoulder
specialist who practices in Philadelphia, Pa.
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