Impact of Advances in Medical Technology on Health Care Costs

Seminar paper from the year 2012 in the subject Medicine - Public Health, grade: 98, course: Technological Entrepreneurship, language: English, abstract: The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of advances in medical technology on health care costs in the United States. More specifically, this paper provides an overview of just some of the plethora of compelling evidence in the public forum, presented by experts in fields related to this topic which do in fact appear to show the correlation exists. An overview of the changes in health care related expenses and some of the advances in medical technology is also provided for background. Health care costs in the United States continue to rise at alarming rates. As many citizens, politicians, physicians, government policy makers and others speculate as to the causes, some have theorized and studied the impact advances in medical technology have had on the rising costs. Findings are mixed across different articles but case studies by two experts provide some compelling evidence on this theory. One case study shows how medical technology can be part of a sometimes extended and wasteful treatment plan for patients, while the other shows how advanced medical technology can actually reduce treatment costs by preventing unnecessary and costly procedures.