Navigating the Trade-Offs of Technological Innovations in Healthcare: Enhancing Provider Skills and Patient Outcomes

Co-sponsored by Peking University's Institute for Global Health and Development and the Asia Health Policy Program

This event delves into the complex landscape of technological advancements in healthcare, focusing on the critical balance between embracing innovative tools and managing their implications for provider skills and patient outcomes. It presents two pivotal papers that collectively shed light on the nuanced trade-offs inherent in the adoption of new technologies like robotic surgery. The first paper utilizes a Roy model to articulate the coexistence of new and incumbent technologies, emphasizing the trade-offs between different quality dimensions and productivity. The second paper examines the adoption of surgical robots in England's healthcare system. It offers an insightful analysis of how such technologies can bridge the skill gap among healthcare providers, potentially leading to more equitable patient outcomes. The study underscores a significant variance in the benefits of robotic surgery based on the surgeon's expertise, highlighting an uneven landscape of technology utilization. Through these discussions, the event aims to navigate the intricate interplay between technological innovation, healthcare provider skill enhancement, and the ultimate goal of improved patient care.

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Nathaniel Breg earned his PhD at Carnegie Mellon University and his BA at Tufts University. His interest in health care providers intersects with questions from labor economics and industrial organization. Nate's current research investigates how providers respond to incentives, how they decide to adopt new technology, and how health care services affect local economies and local health. He is a 2020-2021 recipient of the Fellowship in Digital Health from CMU's Center for Machine Learning and Health. He previously worked at RTI International on evaluations of government health care initiatives, prospective payment systems, and health care delivery quality measures.

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Elena Ashtari Tafti is an applied microeconomist working on topics at the intersection of innovation, health, and personnel economics. In September 2023, she joined the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich as an Assistant Professor in Economics. Elena holds a PhD in Economics from University College London and is a Scholar at the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) and the Centre for Microdata Methods and Practice (CeMMAP).