A dramatic expansion in the number of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT) scans since 1995 has led to increased outlays for the federal government and other payers but not necessarily to better health care or reduced mortality, Stanford's Laurence Baker and coauthors report in a new study published today in the November-December issue of the journal Health Affairs. http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/content/abstract/27/6/1467 On the other hand, as another study in the issue points out, even in managed care settings where there are no particular financial incentives to use imaging, it's difficult to discern which images are worth having and which are not. http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/content/abstract/27/6/1491
What's In The Issue? The imaging boom one of several aspects of medical technology that are addressed in the new Health Affairs issue, titled The Price Of Medical Technology. http://content.healthaffairs.org/current.shtml The volume also discusses the lack of transparency in medical device pricing, http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/content/abstract/27/6/1544, the appropriate standards for adopting new technologies, http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/content/abstract/27/6/1620, and the amount of evidence that should be required before genomic tests are allowed onto the marketplace. http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/content/abstract/27/6/1620
The issue also contains articles finding that "consumer-driven" health plans at one large employer attracted disproportionate numbers of younger enrollees with relatively low health expenditures, http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/content/abstract/27/6/1671; that hospital ratings for consumers can often be confusing, http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/content/abstract/27/6/1680; that the capacity of hospitals to respond to mass-casualty events is insufficient and getting worse, http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/content/abstract/27/6/1688; and that the United States continues to spend more on health care than other industrialized nations but often does not achieve better results, http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/content/abstract/27/6/1718.
PLUS: Health Affairs' Editor-In-Chief, Susan Dentzer interviews Rwandan President Paul Kagame
and Rockefeller Foundation President Judith Rodin on eHealth in the developing world. This is a free-access article.
http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/content/short/27/6/1665