PrepTest 110, Section 3, Question 8
Dr. Jones: The new technology dubbed "telemedicine" will(113 more words not shown)
Dr. Carabella uses which one(9 more words not shown)
- Alisting a set(20 more words not shown)
- Bdescribing the application(20 more words not shown)
- Cciting evidence that(12 more words not shown)
- Dinvoking medical statistics(11 more words not shown)
- Eproviding grounds for(11 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Carabella can accept an early benefit and still reject Jones's forecast. The key is what happens afterward.
At first, telemedicine gives a rural physician access to a distant specialist. A patient far from a specialist's office could receive advice that would otherwise be hard to obtain. That explains why Jones expects better care.
Then Carabella asks us to look at the hospitals' incentives. If a technician can transmit an examination to a distant medical center, a hospital might save money by replacing local physicians with technicians. Carabella predicts that this will leave fewer patients getting direct examinations, until personal attention becomes rare.
Picture the difference between your doctor consulting a specialist while caring for you and a system that mainly connects you to a distant medical center. Carabella expects the first benefit to lead toward the second arrangement and ultimately worse care. Whether that change would actually occur is a separate question; it is the sequence this argument relies on.
What we’re looking for
We're asked how Carabella responds. I'd describe the strategy as tracing what the new technology will lead hospitals to do, then pointing to an undesirable result. The objection goes beyond the immediate benefit Jones identifies.
Working the answers
- A
Telemedicine isn't a prescribed treatment for a particular patient's condition. It's a technology for providing access to medical advice. Carabella also allows that it may help initially, then predicts that changes in how hospitals operate will cause harm. A's description of a treatment that only seems beneficial misses that sequence.
- BCorrect
Adopting telemedicine is the first step. Hospitals then see an opportunity to reduce expenses, replace physicians with technicians, and provide less direct care. The undesirable end is the loss of personal attention and the resulting harm to patient care. B captures that chain of predicted consequences.
- C
Carabella doesn't challenge Jones's qualifications. We aren't told that Jones lacks training or expertise. The response disputes the expected consequences of the technology, not Jones's credentials.
- D
No medical statistics are offered. Carabella gives a prediction about hospitals' financial incentives and the changes those incentives will produce. Calling it a statistical challenge would describe evidence the passage doesn't contain.
- E
The doctors don't debate what telemedicine means. Both discuss transmitting examinations so distant specialists can provide advice. They disagree about where using that technology will lead, not how a key term should be defined.
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