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PREFACE
The mission of the committee that produced this report was 8 tated
clearly in its name: Committee to Develop a Plan for a Private/Public
Sector Entity to Assess Technology in Medical Care. In constructing
the plan, the committee affirmed the need for such an entity and
developed a rationale for what it believes is the most practical set
of organizational characteristics. The committee's major recommenda-
tion Is for the establishment of a Medical Technology Assessment
Consortium associated with the Institute of Medicine.
Although members of the committee were concerned about the
rudimentary state of some technology assessment methods, a critique of
assessment methods was not appropriate here. Another Institute
committee, the Committee for Evaluating Medical Technologies in
Clinical Use, under the chairmanship of Frederick Mosteller, is
charged in this respect and the work of that committee continues at
this time.
The individuals involved in the design and execution of the
project reported here are listed in the previous pages. The members
of the committee and of the liaison panels, all extraordinarily busy
and distinguished people, were animated by a belief in the need for
the type of entity described, by a concern for the quality of medical
care, by a desire for the continued development of appropriate medical-
technology, and by a concern for the validity of the technologic proce-
dures involved in patient care. They met their task with intelligence,
energy and good humor; it is a pleasure to acknowledge my las tiny
gratitude to each of them.
Because of the inherently judgmental elements involved in this
report, and the wide disparity of participants, not everyone on the
committee or the liaison panels subscribes to every aspect of the
conclusions and recommendations that are made. Nevertheless, the
report does represent the overwhelming consensus of the committee.
The staff effort for any study of this kind is considerable. In this
instance it was especially so in vi ew of the large number of individ-
uals on the committee and lie, son panels and the number of constitu-
encies involved. We are especially fortunate ire having the willing and
expert assistance of Enriqueta C. Bond and Alton Hodges and their CQ-
workers. Their efforts in organizing, coordinate ng and systematizing
our work were central to the entire effort, and permitted us to con-
clude our work within the s~x~onth time frame available to us. On
behalf of the ent ire committee I acknowledge with pleasure our
indebtedness to the TOM staff and to Drs. Bond and Hodges particularly.
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Further, I wish to acknowledge my appreciation of the editorial assist
ance of Wallace K. Waterfall, who helped immensely in our efforts to
make this report clear and, above all, useful.
Jeremiah A. Barondess
Chairman
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