Recent advancement of technology has helped to revolutionize healthcare. The partnership or combination between medical technology and the human touch has helped to provide care for thousands of people throughout the world. People of all ages can be provided medical care using technology. Frequently the standard of care provided by a hospital is determined by the sophisticated equipment it utilizes (BLS, 2005). Using technology several therapeutic and diagnostic procedures have been simplified and the outcomes have been improved.
The life-span and quality of life have been improved of organ transplants, skin grafts, gene-therapy and cancer treatments utilizing advanced technology. Modern medicine has also improved the survivability and prognosis of trauma-care patients (BLS, 2005). Physicians are now using hand-held computers or PDA’s to take down the case history of the patient accurately. Several data recorded in the body is electronically transferred to the patient database and hence time and manpower can be saved, and the chances of errors developing are also reduced.
The Long-tem investment in modern medical technology equipment is increasing in the US (BLS, 2005). In the US medical technology is divided into five fields, including medical procedures, surgical procedures, drug, support systems and medical equipment. The equipment for managing and treating heart attack has been discovered only in recent years, and this has revolutionized the outcome of the condition drastically. Fatalities from heart attacks have fallen over the last 25 years from 345 in 1980 to 186 in 2000 for a population of about 100, 000 (BLS, 2005).
Advancement of medical technology has also improved the outcome of neonatals having problems after birth. Several equipment (such as ventilators, pulmonary surfactant, etc) have been utilized to reduce the mortality rates in neonatals. Using advanced equipment, the mortality rates have been reduced to one-third from the 1950’s to the 1990’s (BLS, 2005). Researchers feel that advancement in technology has created a rise in the cost of healthcare in the US. This may develop due to several reasons such as:-
• Creation of new technology to cure diseases that was previously not treatable. • Using sophisticated instruments during surgery. • Using technology to provide improvements in the quality. • Management of the symptoms and signs that develop during the disease through advanced technology to make the patient more comfortable. • Improvements in the clinical progress (KFF, 2007). New technology may or may not help to impact the costs of treatments. It may be a complete or a partial substitute.
The new technology may also be utilized by the hospital extensively or less often. It may be in place as a cost-saving device or even to improve the quality and health outcomes (KFF, 2007). Usually new technology when brought into the market initially may increase the costs as the quality of care provided and the healthcare outcomes are improved. As they may be costly devices, the management of the organization may have to develop a strategy and investment to purchase such equipment.
Frequently, in the US, it may be mandatory for a healthcare organization to use a particular device as it would be required to provide a certain standard of care. If the hospital fails to provide care to that level, it could be held under medical negligence (KFF, 2007). If you look at the improvements of anesthesia, overall, the burden of surgery on the patients have been reduced and they are able to get better faster.
The chances of medical problems developing have significantly been reduced and the hospitalization period has also decreased. On the national front, it spends a GDP of 16 % in 2005 on healthcare, and a significant portion was spent on new technology. The US tends to invest heavily on new medical technology. The outcome of this investment also has been fruitful. Between 1996 and 2000, new technology was utilized in the healthcare sector helped to improve the life-expectancy of the people by about 3. 5 years (KFF, 2007).