title: Medical technology in the United Kingdom.
abstract: This article describes and explains the impact of the National Health Service bureaucracy on the diffusion of medical technology in the United Kingdom. Through case studies of six medical technologies, the author demonstrates how health care authorities may exercise control by using the central financing system to dampen the general diffusion of technology. However, the United Kingdom has less control in specific cases due to the absence of a bureaucratic body to coordinate the evaluation and introduction of new technology.
mesh_terms: D003142:Communication; D001026:Coronary Artery Bypass; D003956:Dialysis; D004059:Diffusion of Innovation; D016027:Heart Transplantation; D006801:Humans; D008096:Lithotripsy; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D011640:Public Policy; D011867:Radioisotope Teletherapy; D013222:State Medicine; D013673:Technology Assessment, Biomedical; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D006113:United Kingdom