A new report by Paul Ginsburg at the Center for Studying Health System Change concludes medical technology is significantly the culprit for soaring health care costs. AdvaMed and advocates for technology advances strongly disagree.

New technology does contribute to higher costs, and physicians should be careful about how they use it. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t use it. Technology, properly used, can avoid more expensive inpatient care and medical complications due to delayed diagnoses. This is where the ACC’s Appropriate Use Criteria and evidence-based guidelines come in. Using advanced technologies appropriately will help save dollars and lives. But, given the growing financial crisis, there will only be more calls to reduce costs, and some of them will be shortsighted in terms of longer term cost savings.

With physician supply problems in cardiovascular care looming, having likely new cuts in Medicare and Medicaid could actually reverse progress in CV morbidity and mortality in the near future. We can’t let that happen.

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