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Stanley Joel Reiser, MD, PhD
Harvard Medical School Boston

JAMA. 1981;246(21):2430-2431.

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

To the Editor.—

In 1891 the noted Philadelphia physician S. Weir Mitchell complained to his colleagues, "You know, alas! that we now use as many instruments as a mechanic."¹ Mitchell would be dismayed by practice today. Technology is pervasive in its scope and effects on the physician's actions, the patient's body, and the public's purse. It is fitting to debate how to appropriately harness technology to medical need and understandable that divergent views emerge on how best to do it, as illustrated by the article of Drs Perry and Eliastam (1981;245:2510) in support of the National Center for Health Care Technology (NCHCT), and the editorial (1981;245:2519) reporting the American Medical Association's opposition to the Center.

Both the AMA and the NCHCT agree that technology assessment is difficult and crucial and that the activity must be sustained and nurtured. I know of no responsible person in medicine who argues to . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

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