Description
Book SynopsisThere have been few credible studies of the risks and benefits of widely used medical treatments. Howard Frazier and Frederick Mosteller, leading figures in the field of medical technology assessment, attempt to distill the methods and knowledge base of their highly specialized discipline, with particular reference to medical innovations.
Trade ReviewIn
Medicine Worth Paying For, the editors…begin by asking ‘How is medicine doing?’ Many of the 14 case studies included suggest a qualified positive assessment… This book is far more than a round of applause for medical advances that have been proven to yield health benefits. The editors criticize the methods by which medical interventions are studied, or, not studied… The editors…[have] distinguished backgrounds in technology assessment…[and] the text itself is highly readable, and sufficiently accessible so that lay readers will find it readily comprehensible. -- Thomas H. Lee * Nature Medicine *
[T]his book would be valuable for many audiences, especially for policymakers, because it identifies most of the serious deficiencies in the American health care delivery system and suggests remedial steps that are endorsed by virtually all serious scholars of the problems this nation faces on the scientific side of health care. Health professionals and medical and nursing students, as well as lay readers, should find this book very informative in helping them to understand the issues in present-day health care delivery in the United States. -- Seymour Perry, M.D. * Academic Medicine *
This book is grounded in solid reviews of clinical studies, shows awareness of the economic consequences of alternative interventions, and is sensitive to the social and psychological factors that affect the well being of patients. It deserves a wide audience among physicians, other health professionals, and all those responsible for public and private health policy decisions. -- Victor R. Fuchs, Henry J. Kaiser, Jr., Professor, Emeritus, Stanford University
This book is must reading for anyone interested in the role of new technologies in medicine. Two eminent scholars, Professors Frazier and Mosteller, and their colleagues discuss examples of specific new technologies—how they are evaluated, how they are accepted in the market place, and how their impact on the cost and the quality of medical care is evaluated. As the United States and most Western nations struggle with the challenges of containing the rise in the costs of care, while preserving and enhancing the quality of care, the lessons taught in this book will be instructive and sometimes sobering. -- Anthony L. Komaroff, M.D., Director, Division of General Medicine and Primary Care, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston
Table of ContentsPart 1 Background: the nature of inquiry, Howard S. Frazier and Frederick Mosteller; evaluating medical technologies, Frederick Mosteller and Howard S. Frazier. Part 2 Physician performance: laparoscopic cholecystectomy for gallstones, Leon D. Goldman; preserving vision in diabetic retinopathy - the impact of laser treatment, Michael R. Albert and Daniel M. Albert; the treatment of unipolar depression, Howard S. Frazier. Part 3 Perverse financial incentives: kidney transplantation, Miriam E. Adams; epoetin therapy for renal anemia - health policy and quality-of-life perspectives, Jennifer F. Taylor. Part 4 Patient empowerment: the control of postoperative pain, Jane C. Ballantyne et al. Part 5 Monitoring and delivering care: immunization against measles, Donald N. Medearis, Jr; treatment of hypertension, Sidney Klawansky. Part 6 The delivery of routine care - visual and dental health: the contributions of lenses to visual health, Georgianna Marks et al; dentistry, Alexia Antczak-Bouckoms and J.F.C. Tulloch. Part 7 Quality of life and cost-effectiveness: total joint replacement for the treatment of osteoarthritis, Jennifer F. Taylor and Elisabeth Burdick. Part 8 Unanticipated effects of treatment: peptic ulcer, Thomas C. Chalmers; oral contraceptives - post-marketing surveillance and rare, late complications of drugs, Howard S. Frazier and Graham A. Colditz. Part 9 Administrative innovations: surgery and anesthesiology, Debra R. Milamed and John Hedley-Whyte. Part 10 Conclusions and recommendations: improving the health care system, Frederick Mosteller and Howard S. Frazier; innovation-specific improvements, Frederick Mosteller and Howard S. Frazier; recommendations for change, Howard S. Frazier and Frederick Mosteller.
