What Does the “Uber Effect” Mean for the Medical Industry? by StarFish Medical Mechanical Engineer, Nigel Syrotuck, is a featured exclusive in the Information Technology section of MDDI published on June 4, 2015.
“One key issue is the lack of regulation in these businesses. If I sign up for a ride share, my driver is not (typically) a licensed taxi driver. If I sign up for a weekend apartment rental, my room is not a hotel. This is causing a huge split in municipal legislation: some of these “sharing” businesses are banned, others encouraged. On one hand, it seems obvious that people should have the right to rent out their own condos, but you wouldn’t normally license someone driving their friend to the airport, even if the driver is being compensated for gas money (though you might tax it). On the other hand, there’s a reason these laws exist. Up until recently, it was clear that the common person did not have the right to charge people for rides around town for profit.
So what does this “Uber Effect” mean for the medical industry? Surely the same lack of regulation can’t apply to healthcare . . . can it? The answer is simply yes, it absolutely can.”
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About StarFish Medical:
StarFish Medical provides award-winning design, development, and flexible manufacturing outsourcing services —100% dedicated to the medical device and life science marketplace. StarFish partners with innovative companies to create and manufacture breakthrough products for a full range of medical specialty areas including: Cardiovascular, Digital Health, IVD, Ophthalmology, Optics, and Ultrasound. StarFish expertise includes electronics, mechanical, human factors and software systems engineering.
Our proprietary Pathfinder™ process for medical device product definition saves clients time and resources throughout the technology and product development phases to commercialization. Prototype and low volume complex electro-mechanical production are delivered in an ISO 13485 certified facility with FDA registration, including cleanroom capabilities.
Regulatory and quality system (QMS) consultants at StarFish provide technical regulatory assistance for FDA and Health Canada submissions, including IEC 60601 and ISO13485.