Measuring gain in the evaluation of medical technology

Investigators often compare new and old technologies, and in such comparisons physicians may wish to know how often patients would respond better with the new technology. In other technology assessments the focus may be how often treatment will use fewer resources with the new technology as compared with the old. The probability of an innovation performing better than a standard can often be estimated from information contained in a study, and this measure is not used as often as would be desirable or practical (4). Those assessing technology may find it useful to review this idea and to see the benefits that it sometimes offers both in objectivity and in preservation of information. The method can also be valuable in meta analysis. Individual studies are frequently reviewed or the results combined in a more complete evaluation of the technology, such as the Technology Evaluations reported in the Health Technology Assessments prepared by the Office of Health Technology Assessment at the.