Howell shows how the healthcare industry was changed by technology when discussing pneumonia in the late 1800's. It wasn't their technology in the sense that they had new machines that could tell them if a patient had a disease or not; it was their systematic way of keeping records. They made diagnosing pneumonia a science by finding out common factors (white blood cells, leucocytes, etc.). Howell writes about how they did not actually count the patients white blood cells, but there were other common factors to determine this vital information for diagnosis. I find cases like this amusing because they are taking medicine and healthcare from a case by case basis and turning it into a methodical science. It went from a to-do list based on symptoms to a system in which the scientific method could actually be applied.

Howell Part #1

     The subject of technology in regards to hospitals and healthcare has progressed rapidly over the last century and a half. Howell begins by summarizing some specific cases in which technology has improved healthcare in the hospital. Howell describes how "Urine analyses, blood tests, even the ordinary x-ray, are no longer identified by most people and in most accounts as being remarkable medical technologies; they are simply part of routine medical care" (Howell 5). It is interesting that society calls these things "standard" because years ago they were unthinkable. I think that the improvement of the education system over the past century has a direct correlation to the improvement in technology. I can expect that the rest of this book will comeback to that quote in one way or another because in order to realize how special the current technology is, one has to be able to look back at what hospitals had access to before this great technology.