Rationalizing Medical Work: Decision Support Techniques and Medical Practices (Inside Technology) [Hardcover]

Marc Berg (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 4, 1997 | ISBN-10: 0262024179 | ISBN-13: 978-0262024174

One response to the current crisis in medicine--indicated by large variations in practice and skyrocketing costs--has been a call for the rationalizing of medical practice through decision-support techniques. These tools, which include protocols, decision analysis, and expert systems, have generated much debate. Advocates argue that the tools will make medical practice more rational, uniform, and efficient: that they will transform the "art" of medical work into a "science." Critics within medicine, as well as those in philosophy and science studies, question the feasibility and desirability of the tools. They argue that formal tools cannot and should not supplant humans in most real-life tasks.Marc Berg takes the issues raised by advocates and critics as points of departure for investigation, rather than as positions to choose from. Drawing on insights and methodologies from science and technology studies, he attempts to understand what "rationalizing medical practices" means: what these tools do and how they work in concrete medical practices. Rather than take a stand for or against decision-support techniques, he shows how medical practices are transformed through these tools; this helps the reader to see what is gained and what is lost.The book investigates how new discourses on medical work and its problems are linked to the development of these tools, and it studies the construction of several individual technologies. It looks at what medical work consists of and how these new technologies figure in and transform the work. Although the book focuses on decision-support techniques in the field of medicine, the issues raised are relevant wherever rationalizing techniques are being debated or constructed. Touching upon broader issues of standardization, universality, localization, and the politics of technology, the book addresses core problems in medical sociology, technology studies, and tool design.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Is medicine a science or an art? Marc Berg's contribution to thislong-standing debate moves away from normative arguments replacing themwith an ethnographic inquiry that goes to the heart of medical work. Berg'sanalysis leads to a provocative new understanding of the practice ofmedicine and of medical judgment, grounded in a detailed empirical accountrather than simplistic generalizations." Alberto Cambrosio, Department of Social Studies of Medicine,McGill University

About the Author

Marc Berg is on the research staff of the Institute of Health Policy and Management at Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: The MIT Press (April 4, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0262024179
• ISBN-13: 978-0262024174
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,830,271 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Highly recommended, June 16, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Rationalizing Medical Work: Decision Support Techniques and Medical Practices (Inside Technology) (Hardcover)

This was a book waiting to be written. Marc Berg discusses the turn to rationalization in medicine with exciting case-studies. The theoretical arguments are subtle and require a close reading but highly influential. Part of the intellectual off-spring of Bruno Latour and Donna Haraway. I use this book in my medical sociology and technology course.

5.0 out of 5 stars JAMA Reviewed this book, February 10, 1998

By 

Hearth (Darnestown, Maryland USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Rationalizing Medical Work: Decision Support Techniques and Medical Practices (Inside Technology) (Hardcover)

FYI, JAMA reviewed this book (The Journal of the American Medical Association , Volume: 278 , Number: 11 , Page: 950(1) Sep 17, 1997). The bottom line of the review seems to be that the book is very dense (takes time and thought to read it) but worth the time and trouble. I'm going to buy a copy and will comment after I read it myself.

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Must be read with a shovel., June 8, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (Barney Welsh) (San Diego) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rationalizing Medical Work: Decision Support Techniques and Medical Practices (Inside Technology) (Hardcover)

I'm no slouch, but this book is really tough to get through. The author makes a difficult subject even more so with his overly erudite writing style, long sentences, and obscure references. A good editor might have helped a lot.