That's a grand plan, but not how the pathology industry works. I...

That's a grand plan, but not how the pathology industry works. I think you also overestimate the savings an APAS machine would afford a laboratory. At best, in a large lab, it might save you the wage of 1 plate reading technician/scientist. ~$70,000 per year. You still need someone skilled to read the positive cultures, APAS merely removes the negatives from the workflow for you. I work in a lab processing 400 odd urines a day. Based on the microscopy at day 1 we separate the culture plates of negative urines into their own rack. At day 2 (Where APAS would come in) we merely scan through the negative plates and pluck out any with positive growth. Takes all of 30min. The APAS imaging technology is world class, and it does have a role in automating the micro lab but it ain't game changing...and it sure as hell doesn't warrant government rebates or mandating.