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The controversy over rising health care costs and the role of technology in causing the same have become a topic of a heated debate. Those who criticize expensive health care point out development in technology invariably cut cost in other areas. However, health care is one area where introduction of new technology results in an increase in cost of medical treatment. This, according to such experts, is a clear case of profit mongering by hospitals and medical institutions.
Those who oppose such an idea point out that widespread acceptance and mass production result in cost reduction. Whether a new technology has been introduced or not is not relevant at all. New technologies to find tumors will become less expensive when the number of persons suffering from such tumors increases. Since the number of persons suspected of suffering from this problem and actually facing this problem remains low, it is not surprising that overall cost of medical treatment using new technology remains high.
Another important factor that is often ignored is the role of research and associated costs in development of new technology. Whether cell phones are harmful for the human body is being discussed more than ten years after cell phones were introduced in a major way.
However, each and every new drug or machine related to health care must pass stringent tests before it is introduced in even a single institution. This is, according to experts, the primary reason why medical care remains so expensive despite introduction of new and improved technological solutions.