Psychiatric Consequences of High Technology in Medical Care

Abstract

The definition of high technology must be arbitrary, because some of today’s high technology may become tomorrow’s low technology, just as some of today’s research becomes tomorrow’s routine. The definition might also include complexity and costliness, which result in restricted availability, usually in a limited number of localities and under the control of specialist staff. It follows from this that the demand for the use high technology exceeds the supply, so that some form of explicit rationing is required. It is possible to analyse high technology according to the type of machine or instrument used: radiological, endoscopic, anesthetic, etc. But the debate concerns less the mechanics than the secondary consequences which the increasing use of high technology may have on the practice of medicine, both in general and for particular patients. Consideration is required as to where high technology fits into the agenda of the medical task. However, in order to analyze its potential contribution to the medical task, as well as its secondary influences, it is useful to identify activities separately and to itemize the main types of action involved in each of these steps (Jennet 1984).