Originally Published MX November/December 2004

EDITOR'S PAGE

In the world of today's healthcare visionaries—including those within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)—the application of information technologies (IT) has achieved a position of preeminence. If not the solution to all ills, IT is certainly seen as the solution to many of the problems in today's healthcare system.

It is questionable, however, whether such visionaries have given much thought to how or by whom IT-based medical products will be developed, manufactured, and marketed. These are not inconsiderable issues, in part because the creation of a nationwide IT infrastructure will almost certainly exert a decisive influence over the features and functions of many future medical products.