ABSTRACT
Traditionally, the primary objective of getting a new pharmaceutical product to market has revolved around the examination of the product’s clinical efficacy and safety. Ÿis is still the case in today’s market. However, the added pressures of high medical costs and availability of limited funds to pay for these new technologies has become a major concern. Understanding the value of healthcare technologies, whether they are new or existing pharmaceuticals, medical devices/procedures, or diagnostics is important. Decision-makers seldom have sufficient monies to permit the use of all approved healthcare technologies for their population (i.e., country, region, healthcare system). However, controlling costs of these technologies is more complicated than choosing the cheapest technology. As in many industries, new technological approaches such as developing new ways to create energy or the development of new electronic devices take time to become cost efficient. We see similar effects in the pharmaceutical industry. In contrast to new approaches to energy production or the development of new electronic devices where the new and old approaches may be used interchangeably or even substituted with one another for some time; healthcare technologies must be examined more closely. Pharmaceuticals are more personal and prevent an adverse outcome for people. Ÿus, sometimes these new technologies cannot be substituted with other, older forms of pharmaceuticals because these new technologies may be the only available efficacious treatment for a particular condition or a patient with specific characteristics.
