Changes in the Use of Medical Technologies, 1972–1977

Abstract

To assess the degree to which use of hospital tests and procedures changed over a five-year period, we studied 1203 patients who were hospitalized at the University of California, San Francisco, in either 1972 or 1977 with one of 10 diagnoses: acute asthma, acute myocardial infarction, lung cancer, respiratory-distress syndrome of the newborn, cataract excision, cesarean section or vaginal delivery, kidney transplantation, stapedectomy, or total hip replacement.