The power to reduce the cost of technology

Technology has been made the scapegoat for the increasing cost of health care. Government action in the form of congressional legislation, administrative regulations, funded research, health care payments, etc., has been an important contributing factor in this increasing cost. Microcomputer/microprocessor-based systems such as MUMPS, PROMIS, COSTAR, GeMSAEC, and ASPECT have underutilized potential for producing economies of scale. Quantitative comparative cost data should be developed by every government-sponsored study or project to forcefully prove that more technology results in lowered costs.