| Popis: |
In the Western world, health care budgets are increasingly under pressure. With an increasingly older population, more people require more medical care. In addition, medical standards have become higher and people are remaining active longer and thus expecting better care. At the same time, the relative number of people working is decreasing. In the USA, the number of implantations of cardiac device has increased by 7% per year, from 294 000 in 2001 to 401 000 in 2005 (pacemaker, ICD, and CRT devices combined) and the number of follow-ups (FUs) doubled in the same period. This rise in FUs translates into an increasing burden on individual clinics and especially on specialised centres. For example, in our clinic the number of implantations rose dramatically, from only 46 in 1999 to 385 in 2004, and we have now 6500–7500 FUs per year. The ever-growing demand on medical care therefore calls for new technologies to be developed. |
