A recent report of the US Congressional Budget Office concluded that new medical technology, devices and specialty drugs are the primary factors driving health care costs nationally, not the aging of the population or increased access to health insurance.   

Medicare data for Central New York suggest a similar trend.  While the region is among the lowest nationally in inpatient and ambulatory health care costs, levels of medical technology costs appear to be high.

The Health Advancement Collaborative of Central New York is working to analyze and address drivers of health care costs through a multi-stakeholder committee of providers, insurers and business.  One objective is to pilot test a mechanism for reviewing technology costs that is data-driven and consistent with four guiding principles:

• be focused on optimizing, not artificially limiting new and innovative uses of technology;
• be open and objective and driven by evidence-based scientific and community data;
• provide for two-way evaluation of new and new use technology and payer coverage policies; and
• generate data to support the adoption of best practice standards.

Articles and other resources related to capacity management and technology costs are available in the resources section of this web site.