High-Technology Medicine in China

Abstract

During the past decade, the focus of medical care in China has moved from the barefoot doctor's clinic to the urban medical center. Techniques have shifted from the use of low-cost tools of prevention to that of expensive, imported diagnostic equipment. The use of high-technology medicine in any country raises three fundamental questions: Is it a reasonable use of limited resources, who will have access to it, and how will it be paid for? Given China's unique record of health achievements in primary care, its use of high-technology medicine has implications not only for its own citizens but for other . . .