The Machine at the Bedside

• Foreword; preface; Part I. Overview: 1. The machine at the bedside: technological transformations of practices and values; Part II. Scientific Dimensions of Technology: 2. Penetrating the black box: physical principles behind health care technology; 3. Biological bullets: side effects of health care technology; Part III. Creation and Dissemination of Technology: 4. The engineering-industrial innovations: clinical diffusion of health care technology; 5. Embracing or rejecting innovations: clinical diffusion of health care technology; Part IV. Organizing Technology in Clinical Settings: 6. Technology' front line: the intensive care unit; 7. Action with dispatch: technology in the emergency department; Part V. Applying Technology in Clinical Practice: 8. The unwanted suitor: law and the use of health care technology; 9. The machine and the marketplace: economic considerations in applying health care technology; 10. The technological strategist: employing techniques of clinical decision making; 11. The technological target: involving the patient in clinical choices; 12. Does technology work? Judging the validity of clinical evidence; Case studies; Index.

'Technologies have made modern medicine what it has become today. They are simultaneously the tools which permit many of the miracles of medical care to be carried out while at the same time depersonalizing the process, distancing the patient and his or her physician. This book, The Machine at the Bedside, is about health care technology - its creation, its dissemination, and its application. It is clearly written, interesting, and right on target. It will help all health professionals to think more deeply about the place of technologies in our system of medical care and how to use them in a restrained and discriminating manner. A most important book on some central issues facing medicine during the coming decades.' David E. Rogers, M.D., President, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation