Institute:Office of National Coordinator (ONC) Workforce Training Curriculum
Component:Introduction to Health Care and Public Health in the U.S.
Unit:Financing Health Care - Part 2
Lecture:Factors Contributing to Increasing U.S. Health Care Costs
Slide content:Technology - 2 Medical devices Computerized Tomography (CT) scanners MRI imaging Implantable defibrillators Health Information Technology (HIT) Electronic medical records Telemedicine 8
Slide notes:Medical imaging equipment such as computerized tomography, or CT, scanners and magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI, equipment permits physicians to look inside the body and create a picture of the damage resulting from an injury or illness. Despite the high cost of purchase and operation, easy availability of these devices increases utilization. Medical devices such as implantable defibrillators permit survival and treatment of life threatening heart rhythms. In the next few years, the government will invest billions of dollars in health information technology to aid in the delivery of high quality, cost-efficient care and the sharing of information among providers, especially via electronic medical records, or EMRs. Telemedicine will become ubiquitous. Already, an x-ray taken digitally at a hospital or a remote clinic can be transmitted to a radiologist in another state or country for interpretation. 8