Butterfly Iq (Handheld Ultrasound) | 6 Month Pro Subscription for Referee (Worth $363) | 1 Device Donated Every 3rd Referral

Go to Deal

TitanFather on 05/09/2020 - 18:44 butterflynetwork.com (151 clicks)
Last edited 05/09/2020 - 18:45

This is a particularly niche referral program for the recently approved Butterfly iQ handheld ultrasound.

I posted about this a couple of months ago, but the signup bonus has doubled for the month of September.

The referee now gets an additional 6-months of the pro software subscription by using a referral link.

For the referrer, every 3rd referral activates a donation of a device to an NGO.

The Butterfly iQ is an all-in-one portable ultrasound that uses your mobile device as the screen. Current price is $3299 (inc GST) for the unit and then ($726/year) for the advanced software subscription.

My Experience

Having used the product for a few months now - I can highly recommend this tool to other docs and think it is particularly well suited to practitioners working in Emergency, Anaesthetics, Rural GP, or Retrieval Medicine. The linear and curvilinear functions work very well, but I personally find the cardiac views less reliable. The shortfalls are outweighed by the portability, multiple-use cases and price compared to competitors (Philips Lumify, Clarius, GE Vscan).

Here is an example of peripheral IV access in a basilic vein (something I use this for every couple of shifts):
US Guided PIVC Insertion

Pro software includes:

*20 clinical applications
*B-Mode, Color Doppler
*M-Mode, Power Doppler
*1 User
*Unlimited secure storage and sharing
*PACS, VNA, Qpath™, and worklist integration guides
*Butterfly Education video learning platform
*Educational View Guidance
*Butterfly TeleGuidance™
*Unlimited software updates

More details:

https://www.butterflynetwork.com/

Referral Links

Referral: random (1)

3 Months of Butterfly Pro Subscription for Referee

Electrical & Electronics

30 Sep 2020

Related Stores

Butterfly Network

closed Comments

Gradesbrah on 05/09/2020 - 18:53

+1

Great post.

I do have concerns of this subscription models leaving your device useless without the ongoing payment.
- TitanFather on 05/09/2020 - 18:57
  
  I'm also not a fan of the subscription software model, but the device is so cheap relative to competitors from Philips and GE.
  
  However, the updates to the software so far have been frequent and useful.
  - revacious on 05/09/2020 - 19:30
    
    In the long run is it cost effective though? Most hospitalists and emergency departments have access to full size POCUS making this redundant in that setting. In the rural gp/retrieval setting this might be useful on occasion but again I would argue there’s no real benefit over a traditional ultrasound as the portability/form factor don’t really make much of a difference in the end. NGOs/sole physicians operating in truly remote areas are the only real use case scenario where I see these as useful - we have school teachers using these to do echos in the pacific and this is perfect for them. I really want one but cannot justify the price, and especially not with this subscription model!
    - TitanFather on 05/09/2020 - 21:47
      
      Convenience of personal device POCUS means that I end up using the large cart based machines less frequently. I have also become more familiar with the ergonomics and limitations of this device, Overall it has sped up my workflow and allowed me to incorporate POCUS into my physical exam in a way that the cart based machines can't really replicate.
- Amaris on 05/09/2020 - 19:03
  
  +1
  
  Not exactly 'useless' without the ongoing payment. There is a basic mode I think that let's you do basic scans
- [Deactivated] on 05/09/2020 - 22:01
  
  You'd be surprised how common that is in healthcare. I used to work for a hospital where we got $10,000,000 linear accelerators for free, but they only worked with the vendor's software which we had to pay annual maintenance for (cough Varian…)
outofgamut on 05/09/2020 - 19:04

+1

I’m with @gradesbrah on this.

I’d love to get this and use in daily practice, mostly to use on pleural space and lungs, but the whole crazy extra fee thing is putting me off.

I had been watching the portable US space for a while and am unsurprised about the move into the ongoing service fee space - but that doesn’t mean I have to buy into it.
- Amaris on 05/09/2020 - 20:34
  
  +1
  
  Why not get a Lumify?
  - outofgamut on 05/09/2020 - 20:55
    
    It costs about double of what I think is already a very generous sum for a device like this.
    
    Given that we have a large radiology department I can’t argue need and would have to purchase out of my own pocket.
    
    They’ll come down in price, no doubt, and I’ll be waiting ;)
    - Amaris on 06/09/2020 - 10:10
      
      +1
      
      I think Lumify do an 'ultrasound course' for the same price where you pay for the course (from the education fund/ TESL) and they give you a Lumify for free!
Gradesbrah on 05/09/2020 - 21:01

+1

Pros:
* Lower upfront cost
* Basic functionality free
* Subscription model will likely see ongoing feature releases

Cons:
* The longer the use period the more costly if with subscription
* Cannot share prob with other team members unless they have subscription or limited use
* Some functions are only available with subscription
- some wave functions and Doppler
- image capture and storage

Over a 5 year ownership or between two clinicians after 2 years, it would seem the Philips is a strong contender. The longer you have it after that or between multiple clinicians it seems to become less competitive to Philips.
Philips also seems to have a better reputation for image quality.
- TitanFather on 05/09/2020 - 21:43
  
  +1
  
  However Philips is only a single probe, and each costs ~10k last time I checked.

This was posted 4 years 2 months 19 days ago, and might be an out-dated deal.