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The Political Dimension in Health Care Technology Assessment Programs

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 March 2009

H. David Banta
Affiliation:
University of Limburg
Per Buch Andreasen
Affiliation:
Gentofte University Hospital, Hellerup

Extract

This article considers technology assessment (TA) to be a comprehensive form of policy research. Technology assessment must then have a relation to policy-making; in the area of health care, TA must relate to such political decisions as resource allocation. Since policies are determined politically, i.e., by factors such as power and influence, technology assessment is, or should be, part of a political process. Technology assessment seems to be developing predominantly as a technical and professional activity, carried out in centers with no relation to the policy-making process. While the impact of technology on health, as well as such broader impacts as those on financial costs, is a key concern, political considerations and political decision-making must always be an important dimension in health care TA.

Type
General Essays
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1990

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References

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