Topic > Innovation in Healthcare and Medicine

The rapid change in medical technology and the availability of high-tech diagnostic and therapeutic equipment, along with the changing practice pattern of doctors, have revolutionized the way medical care is provided today health care. Without a doubt, medical technology is indispensable for people's health and for a better quality of life in some areas; and contributes billions of dollars to the economy. Some would go so far as to say that the practice of medicine today is intrinsically dependent on healthcare technology. This is likely based on the observation that physicians use a wide variety of technologies to diagnose, treat, and evaluate the care of their patients. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Today's medical technology is more advanced, more effective, and, in many cases, more expensive than ever before. Furthermore, there is an ever-increasing demand for high-tech diagnostic and therapeutic healthcare facilities and their availability may conflict with medical necessity, social justice and cost-effectiveness. There is increasing pressure on healthcare resources that is driving more explicit and public decisions regarding the best use of these resources. The complexity of modern technology and its high marginal cost suggest that testimonial reviews of new technologies are no longer sufficient.1 Current trends in healthcare decision-making favor a transition from a logic based primarily on resources and opinions to a logic derived from research. When developing a new health technology it is important to recognize its potential impact. The important question would be whether the new technology will provide information that was previously unavailable and whether the new information could lead to a cure for a common and otherwise deadly disease. Technology evaluation helps the doctor by determining which technologies are most likely to benefit the patient, allowing the doctor to recommend a prudent course of action. Technology evaluation should encourage skepticism about new technology, causing the clinician to be more rigorous in accepting the latest invention. It will substantially contribute to better use of scarce healthcare resources. Calls for increased productivity despite cuts in financial resources have renewed discussion about cost-effectiveness in medical care. Important parameters that should be considered include the incidence and prevalence of the disease, the cost and success of treatment, the cost and success of diagnosis, and the cost and success of preventive treatment. A fundamental issue in health economics is the study of cost versus benefit analysis. It is often difficult to place a dollar value on a person's life, as is commonly done in court. Any new technology, process, innovation or product will have some level of risk associated with it because, contrary to the wistful claims of many politicians, there is no such thing as “zero risk”. In fact there can be no innovation without an element of risk. The medical technology industry's view is that they must identify the appropriate hazards for a product or process, estimate the risks associated with them, reduce the risks by appropriate risk control measures in an iterative process, taking care not to introduce inadvertently new risks from such actions and consider the overall residual risks that remain after implementing risk control measures. The decision on the acceptability of this residual risk.