Technological opportunities for the delivery of health care

This paper has been designed to examine the programs and aspirations assigned to the National Center for Health Services Research and Development which has just recently been created in Washington, D. C. This Center will be supported by grants and contracts, and will endeavor to promote, support, and stimulate a national program of health-services research, development, and demonstrations. More specifically, the National Center for Health Services Research and Development will attempt to make health services available to all people and to assist all health professions in their efforts to improve their ability to assess the quality of their services. It will also investigate the comparative costs of alternative methods of providing and financing health services and experiment with architectural designs, site locations, plans, and new methods of construction. The Center will try to increase the efficiency of health services by developing new methods of training and using personnel. Applying and refining computer technology in screening techniques, automation of medical records, and selected other aspects of medical care process will be included in the program, as well as methods for accelerating the applications of new or improved techniques for the prevention, treatment, and control of diseases and other disabilities. The Center will design and initially operate experimental health-services systems in both urban and rural areas. It will make multi-disciplinary analyses of the organization and functioning of all components of the health-services system and will increase academic resources for training health-services research and for developing personnel. The Center will establish and operate a health-services data system relevant to research and development, planning, policy making, and management. Much of this paper discusses the opportunities which exist in the development of computer technology in the United States in relation to the delivery of health care.