DOYEN OF MRI: “SERVICES SHOULD BE DISTRIBUTED EVENLY”
Prof. Dr. Orhan Nalcıoğlu, Lecturer at University of California, who is considered the doyen of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) equipment used in diagnosis of central nervous system diseases (brain and spinal cord), sports injuries, and diseases of the musculoskeletal system, stated that Turkey needed to work on even distribution of hospital services.
Prof. Dr. Nalcıoğlu, who was invited as a guest speaker by Turkish Society of Radiology Izmir Branch with support of Izmir University of Economics Faculty of Health Sciences, indicated that any unit at a hospital in Turkey had more than 40 patients waiting, majority of whom were in a position not to stand on their two feet. Prof. Dr. Nalcıoğlu shared his experiences with fellow radiologists at the Council Chamber of Izmir Chamber of Commerce. “People’s lives could be made a little easier. Something needs to be done for patients at this level,” stated Prof. Dr. Nalcıoğlu.
“To do right by the patients play a major role in getting their health back”, stated the Professor and continued, “Because of this, diagnosis is very important. While considering this, we should also consider the economic aspect as well. People have many problems but economic resources are not endless. There is uneven distribution of expensive means. My thought is about how to deliver the patients the best service at the cheapest rate, so many numbers of people can benefit.”
‘New technology is necessary for full profile’
Prof. Dr. Nalcıoğlu indicated that medicine was moving towards personalized approaches and not two people with same disease demonstrated the same molecular characteristics. Prof. Dr. Nalcıoğlu stated the following:
“We need to come up with new technologies in order to make full profile for everyone and identify the treatment accordingly. Our last 15 years studies reveal this. In medical device companies, one third of the product prices are based on cost, and two thirds on profit. They allocate the half of the profit for new improvements. The higher the price is, the higher the profit gets. MRI is very important in early diagnosis. Imaging based on the biology of the cancer is conducted. It is a molecular imaging rather than an anatomic one.”
