MEDICAL INNOVATIONS AND THEIR IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGES IN THE UNITED STATES

Abstract

There is a large disconnect between the amount Americans spend on healthcare and their relatively poor health outcomes. In this thesis, I explore the reasons for this disconnect and offer potential solutions. After discussing healthcare waste reduction strategies, I outline medical innovations that could improve healthcare quality, with a focus on innovations in the rapidly changing fields of genetic testing, regenerative medicine, and big data. I discuss the often-hyped promises of these innovations, and consider the scientific, logistic, political, economic, social, and ethical challenges that need to be solved before they can be implemented. I end by analyzing the reasons for the successful implementation of a now-ubiquitous medical innovation, the CT scanner, and apply insights from this analysis to innovations that I outline earlier in the paper.