An Institute for Health-Care Evaluation

In July 1980, I wrote an editorial in these columns supporting the evaluation of medical technology as an effective way to moderate the cost of medical care while improving its quality.1 "What we need," I said then, "is a major new national program of support for the evaluation of medical procedures of all kinds —those we now have, and those that we will be developing. The work will have to be done mostly in the private sector and it will need large-scale funding...." I suggested that all third-party payers contribute a small fraction of their annual expenditures to support the . . .