Technological medicine

Uncertainty and technological change in medicine.

Is technological change in medicine worth it?

Medical technology is valuable if the benefits of medical advances exceed the costs. We analyze technological change in five conditions to determine if this is so. In four of the conditions--heart attacks, low-birthweight infants, depression, and cataracts--the estimated benefit of technological change is much greater than the cost. In the fifth condition, breast cancer, costs and benefits are ...

Pursuing Humanistic Medicine in a Technological Age

The humanistic practice of medicine requires that the practitioner have sufficient time and appropriate focus. Both elements, however, are under assault by the high-speed, distraction-filled environment within which primary care is delivered today. Despite or perhaps because of modern medicine's technological advances, the potentially healing bond between doctor and patient is being frayed and ...

The dynamics of technological change in medicine.

This paper contrasts a dynamic and interactive view of technological change with the linear model of medical innovation that is still so deeply ingrained in many policy discussions. In particular, it focuses on the role of feedback mechanisms between the users and the developers of medical technology and the demand and supply forces (including competition among medical specialties) determining ...

Technological Medicine: The Changing World of Doctors and Patients

concepts are key to the creation of new cancer treatments. Lastly, the book delves into how a mismatch of the modern environment from our evolutionarily ancestral environment explains many diseases of the industrial world such as diabetes, allergies, autoimmunity, and obesity. Evolutionary Medicine is intended for undergraduate, graduate, or medical school courses. It draws from fields as diver...