CommentaryOverusing technology
Section snippets
Background
Technologic advances in health care are impressive, with a wide array of technologic tools available to help clinicians deliver quality patient care. Oral and maxillofacial surgeons in particular have sophisticated imaging equipment to more precisely detect tumors and plan surgical procedures; rapid prototyping technology to help in surgical planning and preparing devices for use during surgery; flexible scopes to allow less invasive approaches; and robotic equipment to improve surgical
Practitioners and Technology
Maslow reworded Abraham Kaplan's law-of-the-instrument adage to “If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.” Applied to the health care technology situation, practitioners who have a device such as cone beam computed tomography in their office may feel the need to justify its use in as many situations as possible even when a less costly option may work just as well. Once the clinician owns a piece of technology, he or she looks for opportunities to use it to benefit patients.
Responsibility to Patients
Patients depend on health care providers to use their best judgment when offering advice. They should be given sufficient information to help them come to a wise decision. Newer technology may make things better for patients but may also produce outcomes that are not significantly different from those obtained with less costly alternatives. Patients need to be aware of their options. Clinicians need to honestly present the advantages and disadvantages of each alternative and allow patients to
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Hupp JR: Advanced technology—hammers looking for nails. J Oral Maxillofac Surg 71:465-466, 2013
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