The Town Meeting for Technology

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Abstract
DURING the past 7 1/2 years, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has sponsored 50 consensus development conferences assessing a wide diversity of important biomedical topics. The first five years of this new effort were a time of experimentation. Formats and approaches of these first-generation conferences changed to some extent with new topics. Gradually, however, a set of common principles emerged for conducting a consensus conference effectively. Starting in 1982, the second generation of consensus conferences were held in conformance with these principles. Careful assessment of these more recent experiences stimulated plans for a new approach to this effort, involving formal methods for data synthesis. At the onset of a new generation of consensus conferences, it is worthwhile to examine the evolution of the consensus development process to its current status and its potential for further growth as a part of the complex decision-making apparatus of our health care system.

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