Operating Costs Represent Only a Small Portion of the Total Cost of Reusable Endoscope Procedures, According to a New Report from Millennium Research Group

November 3, 2006—Waltham, Massachusetts—Millennium Research Group (MRG), the global authority on medical technology market intelligence, has completed a thorough analysis of the per-procedure cost of reusable rigid endoscopes. By surveying operating room (OR) managers in both hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers across the US, MRG determined that the purchase cost of a rigid endoscope represents only a small portion of the total per-procedure cost of the device. According to a new MRG report entitled  US Rigid Endoscope Cost Analysis, the total average cost of a reusable rigid endoscope is over $150 per procedure.

Historically, the initial purchase cost of a rigid endoscope was regarded as the most significant cost associated with the device. MRG has discovered, however, that the greatest costs associated with rigid endoscope ownership are actually attributable to scope backup, repair, refurbishment, sterilization, and OR downtime. These results are similar across all major rigid endoscope types, including laparoscopes, arthroscopes, urological rigid scopes, ENT rigid scopes, rigid bronchoscopes, and rigid hysteroscopes.

“On average, these costs contribute an additional 650% to the reusable rigid endoscope purchase cost over the lifespan of the device,” says Barbara Prud’homme, Senior Analyst at MRG. “Facilities may therefore find it less expensive to purchase disposable endoscopes.”

About Endoscopes
Endoscopes are cameras that navigate through the body. Endoscopes can be classified into two categories: flexible and rigid. The main advantage of the rigid endoscope is its enhanced image quality compared to flexible scopes of a similar diameter.