Opportunity costs: Scarcity and complex medical machines

Abstract

This chapter looks at the problem of resource scarcity, and the development of medical machines; in particular, the research, development and population wide implementation (RD&I) of complex medical machines. It raises a series of questions about how we make decisions regarding the distribution of scarce healthcare resources and posits that we ought to pay special attention to the distribution of resources for RD&I underpinning complex medical machines. This chapter covers some common issues in allocation of healthcare resources to then focus on the RD&I of complex medical machines as an important area requiring discussion. When the needs or demands for medical treatment significantly outstrip the available resources, decisions must be made about how to distribute these resources, recognizing that not all needs will be satisfied immediately and some may not be satisfied at all [9, p. 275]. Show more