title: Minimally invasive therapy in Denmark.
abstract: Minimally invasive therapy (MIT) is beginning to have impacts on health care in Denmark, although diffusion has been delayed compared to diffusion in other European countries. Now policy makers are beginning to appreciate the potential advantages in terms of closing hospitals and shifting treatment to the out-patient setting, and diffusion will probably go faster in the future. Denmark does not have a system for technology assessment, neither central nor regional, and there is no early warning mechanism to survey international developments. This implies lack of possibilities for the planning of diffusion, training, and criteria for treatment.
authors.affiliation: Danish National Board of Health, Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Schou
mesh_terms: D003718:Denmark; D004059:Diffusion of Innovation; D004724:Endoscopy / Q000639:trends; D006291:Health Policy; D010535:Laparoscopy; D053685:Laser Therapy / Q000639:trends; D008096:Lithotripsy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013514:Surgical Procedures, Operative / Q000639:trends*; D013673:Technology Assessment, Biomedical; D013812:Therapeutics / Q000639:trends*