Overview

Abstract

Medical technology broadly defined to include all aspects of the process of treating disease (e.g., pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and surgical procedures) is profoundly important for individual health and, consequently, also for general welfare. Advances in medical technology hold out the prospect of both improved population health and increased general welfare. However, because of the nature and extensive regulation of the markets for health care goods and services, the development and application of medical technologies differs fundamentally from nonmedical technological advances. In this volume of the series of Advances in Health Economics and Health Services Research, entitled The Economics of Medical Technology, we present several papers that provide theoretical and empirical evidence about the market for medical technology.

Citation

Bolin, K. and Kaestner, R. (2012), "Overview", Bolin, K. and Kaestner, R. (Ed.) The Economics of Medical Technology (Advances in Health Economics and Health Services Research, Vol. 23), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. ix-xi. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0731-2199(2012)0000023003