Related Experiment Videos
Are the returns to technological change in health care declining?
1Department of Economics, Stanford University, CA 94305-6072, USA.
Summary
New medical technologies may be overused in U.S. hospitals, especially for elderly heart attack patients. While the value of technological change isn't declining, intensive hospitals show low incremental value, suggesting overuse.
Area of Science:
- Health Economics
- Medical Technology Assessment
- Geriatric Cardiology
Background:
- The U.S. healthcare system faces ongoing debate regarding the adoption and utilization of new medical technologies.
- Concerns exist about whether new technologies offer sufficient value or if worthwhile innovations are overused.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze the marginal value of technological change in treating elderly patients who experienced a heart attack between 1984 and 1990.
- To estimate the additional benefits and costs associated with treatments in hospitals that are early adopters or intensive users of new technologies.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of treatment benefits and costs in intensive versus non-intensive hospitals for elderly heart attack patients.
- Utilized instrumental-variables methods to control for unmeasured variations in patient populations across hospitals.
- Estimated incremental mortality benefits and costs to assess the value of technological advancements.
Main Results:
- The study did not find evidence of declining returns to technological change during the study period.
- However, the incremental value of treatment in technology-intensive hospitals was consistently low.
- These findings suggest potential overuse of new medical technologies.
Conclusions:
- The returns to technological advancement in healthcare do not appear to be diminishing.
- The low incremental value of treatment in intensive hospitals indicates that new medical technologies may be overutilized for elderly heart attack patients.