Engineering the Delivery of Health Care: Priorities for Application and Research

National Academy Of Sciences, Washington DC

Investigators

Abstract

Although wonders have been done in developing medical technology, delivery systems for health care - the instrumentalities and regimes for safe and effective application of the technology to patient care -- have received much less attention, especially from engineering researchers. This project will fund a National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and Institute of Medicine (IOM) study to begin remedying this shortfall by identifying opportunities for engineers to make critical contributions to health care delivery. Jointly funded by NSF, the National Institutes of Health, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation over a period of 14 months, NAE and IOM will convene a committee of distinguished members to lead an investigation accomplished mostly by NAE staff. Two major workshops will be part of the effort, one to highlight successes already underway and another to set an agenda for future research. Recommendations of the committee would be collected in a summary report that may show the way to exciting opportunities for engineers to contribute to a critical national problem.