Discussion B40

A healthcare system should absolutely concern themselves with the balance between the efficacy of its technologies and its output economically.  Newer and better technological advances are one of the major factors in rising healthcare costs in the country.  Innovations in technology in healthcare is left up to the free market forces. It’s the providers, the patients and consumers, and facilities that drive these changes and requests for the newest and best. With this advantage to obtaining technology also comes quality upticks. The technology however must provide something in return and the patient must be made aware of all the possible risks and benefits of this new technology.  The providers, health systems, the patients, and the industry work together to provide this high-quality healthcare driven by technology. This newer and better technology should have a further reach than the most urban areas where the physicians have access to this new information from both a clinical standpoint and the profitability associated with it.

 Barriers to achieving a healthy balance between healthcare’s technology efficacy and worth starts with its costs and development. Healthcare costs continue to be on the rise in the U.S. with the country spending $26B on its research and development in 2003.  These costs and expenditures are no different today where the cost of a a knee replacement surgery requires an initial investment of $10-20M and takes many years before that new product is on the market, if it makes it all. Herndon and Hwang point out that “between 1991-2006, manufacturers increased their list price for a total hop implants on average of 171% and over that same period, Medicare hospital payments went up 19% but physician payments from Medicare declined 13% the Federal Drug Administration set regulations to monitor new drugs and medical devices entering the industry but the same high standard is not in place for technologies where “healthcare technology assessment originated in federal agencies; today it is decentralized with increasing private sector efforts.” (Herndon & Hwang, 2007).  Another factor is the patient need or preference.  Patients in the U.S., sometimes without evidence of its efficacy demand the latest technology, believing the newest, and most expensive case will provide the best outcomes Technology and is a huge driver in healthcare costs, there is also a complicated relationship with quality and costs in the healthcare system. Achieving a balance with the costs and benefits could mean many positives for healthcare spending amounts, the quality and access of this new care could become more widely available as well. There’s also the positive side of having employees more relevant and up-to-date with the greatest technologies and investing in human capital. For a system to be able to successfully achieve a balance in its technology sector and economies, the aim is to provide high-quality outcomes and those outcomes should be transparent to both the patient populations as well as peers and scholars.  This transparency ripples outwardly to include cost transparency for the patients or consumers of the services as well as for the third-party payers, and lastly, it’s important to provide care that results in high levels of satisfaction for both the patient and the physicians