To upgrade or not to upgrade
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We have an X-ray machine that has XP on it. The vendor is now able to supply an upgrade (for $13K) that will replace XP with Windows 7 (and a PC).
The device along with it's ancillary devices are on a network separated from the rest of the network.
Does anyone think it's worth upgrading the machine to Win7?
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Really a business question more than anything. XP is old. But upgrading to Windows 7 is ridiculous.
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@scottalanmiller said:
Really a business question more than anything. XP is old. But upgrading to Windows 7 is ridiculous.
I completely agree.
I tend to think that leaving it on that other network away from the world is fine and just use it until it dies or you need to replace it for other reasons.
Am I forgetting something?
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@Dashrender said:
@scottalanmiller said:
Really a business question more than anything. XP is old. But upgrading to Windows 7 is ridiculous.
I completely agree.
I tend to think that leaving it on that other network away from the world is fine and just use it until it dies or you need to replace it for other reasons.
Am I forgetting something?
If you keep it isolated from everything else, barring any hardware problems, I think you'd be fine.
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The only other thing is if the information stored on it falls under HIPAA. I haven't looked at it that closely, but it may have something regarding the age or patch status of systems that would put you out of compliance regardless of how secure your implementation is.
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@Kelly said:
The only other thing is if the information stored on it falls under HIPAA. I haven't looked at it that closely, but it may have something regarding the age or patch status of systems that would put you out of compliance regardless of how secure your implementation is.
You can mitigate those patches by not having the network connect to anything of concern, basically, be an island.
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@Dashrender said:
@Kelly said:
The only other thing is if the information stored on it falls under HIPAA. I haven't looked at it that closely, but it may have something regarding the age or patch status of systems that would put you out of compliance regardless of how secure your implementation is.
You can mitigate those patches by not having the network connect to anything of concern, basically, be an island.
That's good. I wasn't sure if HIPAA was sane in that regard. I've run afoul of a few compliance requirements that were not so flexible in their destruction of actual security in the name of compliance.
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Do you gain any extended warranty of the system as a whole with the upgrade?
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$13k? spits out coffee
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@DustinB3403 Not sure - but I know currently we do not have a maintenance agreement on that equipment, and even if we did, we'd still have to pay $9500 for the replacement box with Windows 7 instead of $13K. and from what I read, maintenance was $3500/yr.
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So they are charging you to get current with the maintenance contract, and then for the hardware.
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@Dashrender said:
@DustinB3403 Not sure - but I know currently we do not have a maintenance agreement on that equipment, and even if we did, we'd still have to pay $9500 for the replacement box with Windows 7 instead of $13K. and from what I read, maintenance was $3500/yr.
Yeah, but x-rays are expensive as f@ck, so that $13k would be made back in no time.
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@RojoLoco said:
@Dashrender said:
@DustinB3403 Not sure - but I know currently we do not have a maintenance agreement on that equipment, and even if we did, we'd still have to pay $9500 for the replacement box with Windows 7 instead of $13K. and from what I read, maintenance was $3500/yr.
Yeah, but x-rays are expensive as f@ck, so that $13k would be made back in no time.
Whole making money on sick people thing is kinda repulsive, but I see the point. Everyone rides the gravy train.
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@MattSpeller I'm not condoning it, but if you want to barf, get a bill for medical services from the US. Look at what the doctor charges the insurance company - but have a bucket and towel nearby, and try to hold back the murderous rage that ensues.
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@DustinB3403 said:
So they are charging you to get current with the maintenance contract, and then for the hardware.
That's one way to look at it.
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@RojoLoco said:
@Dashrender said:
@DustinB3403 Not sure - but I know currently we do not have a maintenance agreement on that equipment, and even if we did, we'd still have to pay $9500 for the replacement box with Windows 7 instead of $13K. and from what I read, maintenance was $3500/yr.
Yeah, but x-rays are expensive as f@ck, so that $13k would be made back in no time.
lol - dream on buddy, dream on.
Medicare pays us something like $50 or so per xray. Sure we send them a bill for $250, but we only see $50... -
@MattSpeller said:
Whole making money on sick people thing is kinda repulsive, but I see the point. Everyone rides the gravy train.
Yeah, when you see what healthcare ACTUALLY costs to provide, you realize just how corrupt every doctor is. We pay full price over here and it is SO cheap for better service. It's not just the system, it is individuals, too.
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@Dashrender That's not one way, that's what they are doing, and I'd put money on it if you asked them why it's so much, that they'd say you need to be current with support to have the latest and greatest.
The same thing happened when I was working for a sheet metal company with a 15K laser scanner.
The glass alone was 6K but included maintenance support for the software which was almost free.
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@Dashrender said:
Medicare pays us something like $50 or so per xray. Sure we send them a bill for $250, but we only see $50...
Why send a bill of $250, then? What's that bill for? If Medicare says an X-Ray is worth $50, and even that is very high, why bill them an amount they won't pay unless it is for creating a "standard" to charge to uninsured people?
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@scottalanmiller said:
Why send a bill of $250, then? What's that bill for? If Medicare says an X-Ray is worth $50, and even that is very high, why bill them an amount they won't pay unless it is for creating a "standard" to charge to uninsured people?
Ding.
