[Social control of medical-technical progress].

The analysis emphasises the dependence of medical-technological progress on the zero fees for standard health services. Technologies with an additional or total self-payment are discriminated against by the patients and the physicians. Besides, a tendency to apply medical maximum standards was discerned. The enforcement of novel methods of diagnosis and therapy has been made substantially easier. In contrast, there are scarcely any incentives to introduce cost-saving technologies from the patient's point of view. The fixed budgets of the Health Structure Act will exercise greater pressure on introducing cost-cutting innovations.