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Placing New Technology in Context

Arch Ophthalmol. 1999;117:1545-1546.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

TREMENDOUS ADVANCES in ophthalmic, medical, and public health knowledge and technology have profoundly improved our lives. The 20th century is marked by the constant of an ever-increasing technology base that enables us to do more for more people. In many ways new technological applications will benefit not only patients but also those who provide such services.¹ New pharmaceuticals, devices, services, and procedures will all continue to advance our ability to help our patients. Yet, as we move into the 21st century, we can glean guiding principles from experience and place evaluation of new technology into an appropriate context.

First, we should keep in mind that the initial reports of the benefits of new technology often overestimate the ultimate benefits. Whether owing to the nature of pilot studies (eg, sinusotomy as a glaucoma operation is no longer performed as described in the 1960s²), expansion of a proven benefit to more . . . [Full Text of this Article]