ORGANIZED MEDICINE AND THE ASSESSMENT OF TECHNOLOGY - LESSONS FROM ONTARIO

OVER the past 18 years the Canadian health care system has been more successful in containing costs than its American counterpart. With provincial governments as the sole purchasers of almost all essential medical and hospital services, administrative economies are possible, and the flow of funds to physicians and hospitals can be, and has been, subjected to tighter controls.1 It might also be expected that the Canadian medical care system would more easily restrain the diffusion of new medical procedures and technology than the pluralistic system in the United States. To the extent that such diffusion has been limited, two mechanisms. . . © 1990, Massachusetts Medical Society. All rights reserved.