Health Care, Technology, and the Competitive Environment

Examining the combined impact of technology and the increasingly competitive market on the delivery and financing of health care, this volume makes a significant contribution to an issue of major importance to the American people. Health care has become a major industry that is changing rapidly and strikingly. This contributor volume focuses on the interplay among technology, the changing environment of health care, and its implications for future technological innovation. Particular focus is placed on the hospital in light of changes in federal funding (Medicare's prospective payment system, using diagnosis-related groups) with its orientation towards cost efficiency and cost-reducing technology. Academics, practitioners, and government personnel involved in hospital management, health care, and policy will find this volume a major resource.

This book is a collection of 18 papers by leading authorities inspired by the 1987 Conference on Health Technology Adoption in a DRG Age. It is divided into four sections: Technology and Health Care Content; Technology and the Health Care Organization; Technology and the Changing Environment; Implications for Technology Policy

HENRY P. BREHM is Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. His writings are in the areas of medical care organization and financing, aging, and disability, including coauthorship of a trilogy of books on social insurance policy issues subtitled: From Social Problem to Federal Program.

ROSS M. MULLNER is Associate Professor and Director of the Center for Health Services Research at the University of Illinois at Chicago. His extensive writings include such topics as hospital health care technology, capital finance, hospital closure and medical technology.