Fantastic
Voyage: Questions from the 21st Century |
to pdf >>
By
Joanne Schottinger, MD
Oncologist
and Assistant Medical Director at the
KP Southern California Regional Offices
As
a child, did you like reading science fiction or watching Star Trek?
If so, this issue is really a treat for you!
Robots
the size of small VW bugs in the operating room assisting urologists
in removing a prostate. Wireless endoscopy capsules, the size of
large vitamin pills, touring through the small intestine, filming
a scene straight out of Fantastic Voyage. Preimplantation
genetic testing on one cell from an embryo. Molecular-targeted therapies
for cancer.
This
issue of The Permanente Journal will explore these and other
exciting new technologies, devices, tests, and drugs, but it will
only scratch the surface of the plethora of new technologies being
developed in the 21st century. Many challenges for Kaiser Permanente
(KP) arise from this exploding pace of development. Which new technologies
should we deploy? Where and in how many medical centers? How do
we retrain our physicians in these new procedures? Who are the appropriate
patients to receive these new procedures? How do we monitor results?
The
answers to these questions and the technology management process
in KP will also be reviewed in this issue. This issue focuses on
NEW technology, but we cannot lose sight of the fact that a recent
study revealed that Americans in general receive medical procedures
supported by evidence-based medicine only about half the time.1
The evidence-based technology management process has also been utilized
in KP to address inadequate utilization of older technologies.
Finally,
we also hope to help answer a burning question for clinicians--how
do I keep up with such rapidly changing medical advancements? Resources
to answer this question are in this issue.
Reference
-
McGlynn EA, Asch SM, Adams J, et al. The quality of health care
delivered to adults in the United States. N Eng J Med 2003 Jun
26;348(26):2635-45.
