The Biomedical Engineer and the Health Care System

The future of biomedical engineering is not in the classroom or the laboratory. The funds available are simply not designed to support the further development of a basic science base, and they are miniscule compared with the nearly 100 billion per year spent on health care. The biomedical engineer m...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:IEEE transactions on biomedical engineering 1975-03, Vol.BME-22 (2), p.95-100
Main Author: Brown, J. H. U.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Ambulatory Care
Automatic control
Automation
Biomedical computing
Biomedical engineering
Biomedical Engineering - education
Computers
Costs
Delivery of Health Care
Emergency Service, Hospital
Health Services
Hospital Administration
Hospital Departments
Humans
Instruments
Laboratories
Medical control systems
Medical Records
Medical services
Research and development
United States
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Summary:The future of biomedical engineering is not in the classroom or the laboratory. The funds available are simply not designed to support the further development of a basic science base, and they are miniscule compared with the nearly 100 billion per year spent on health care. The biomedical engineer must turn his attention to problems of the system as a whole. Each year the cost of medical care rises sharply and unfortunately a part is due to the often unnecessary sophistication or over-development of instrumentation. Research and development are badly needed in the areas of automation. Need for computer controls, communications and transportation, system design, optimum utilization of resources, and redesign of the system to provide health care where the people are rather than where the doctor is located are all indications that the biomedical engineer can find a fruitful career in these areas rather than in the rapidly saturating areas of teaching and basic research.
ISSN:0018-9294
1558-2531
DOI:10.1109/TBME.1975.324425