Social policy, technology, and the rationing of health care.

Abstract

David Mechanic, Ph.D. is Director, Institute for Health, Health Care Policy, and Aging Research at Rutgers University. Technology is a process of organizing inputs to achieve specified outcomes, but to most people technology is synonymous with hardware-the artificial kidney, electronic monitoring, computerized tomography (CT), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), and lithotripters. This common confusion is symptomatic of the difficulties we face in mobilizing the vast resources we expend on health care toward the design of an effective, affordable, and equitable framework of care for all Americans.