Automated indirect blood pressure measurement--a point of view.

A review of a recent American Hospital Association guideline report on automated indirect blood pressure measurement devices prompted the author's reflections on the general efficacy of this technology and on the preoccupation of modern medicine with "high technology." He urges physicians to moderate their increasing reliance on technology and to more critically assess the actual vs perceived benefits of the ever-more-sophisticated electronic monitoring tools available in the health care marketplace.