Technology and the boundaries of the hospital: three emerging technologies.

U.S. hospitals have proved remarkably adept at altering their service offerings to incorporate new technologies. New technologies threatened to undercut hospitals' central role in health care delivery in the 1980s. An array of new technologies promise yet again to alter the boundaries of hospitals' franchise. These technologies will not only continue the shift away from acute, inpatient care that we have seen for the past thirty years but will also challenge hospitals to collaborate more effectively with physicians and technology developers. How hospitals and policymakers respond to these emerging technologies will help determine whether hospitals remain at the center of the U.S. health system.