Regina E. Herzlinger
Nancy R. McPherson Professor of Business Administration
Nancy R. McPherson Professor of Business Administration
Regina E. Herzlinger is the Nancy R. McPherson Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School. She was the first woman to be tenured and chaired at Harvard Business School and serve on many established and start-up corporate health care/medical technology boards. She initiated the courses in non-profit and health care at HBS and was the first faculty member to be selected by the students as their best instructor.
Regina Herzlinger has been named the "Godmother of consumer-driven health care," because of her groundbreaking scholarly articles and books on this subject. She differed from conventional views of health care consumers, who were derogatorily described as non–compliant, illiterate, or patients, as in, “you need to be patient.” Instead, she portrayed them as busy people who are eager and capable of participating in managing their health, with appropriate, relevant, and respectful support.
Professor Herzlinger's long-predicted focus on the consumer-driven health care movement has supported the explosion of ambulatory medical centers, wearables, implantable sensors, telehealth, urgent and emergent free-standing care facilities, and the intense interest in health savings and health reimbursement accounts. She anticipates future consumer-driven health plans and delivery systems focused on specific chronic diseases and disabilities. (Regina Herzlinger, Market-Driven Health Care: Who Loses in the Transformation of America's Largest Service Industry. 1997)
Professor Herzlinger’s work focuses on the research and pedagogical activities that can help to create the public and business innovations that will reshape health care systems worldwide so they are increasingly accessible, cost-controlled, and technologically enabled. Because the components of the status quo health care systems—hospitals, pharmaceutical firms, insurers, for example—are oligopolized and uncompetitive (Regina E. Herzlinger, Barak Richman & Kevin Schulman. “Maintaining Health Care Innovations After the Pandemic,” JAMA Network, February 10th, 2023; Regina E. Herzlinger. Who Killed Health Care? America’s $2 Trillion Medical Problem – and the Consumer-Driven Cure. McGraw-Hill, 2007) and the employers and governments that should act as agents for their constituents have been notably ineffective (Regina E. Herzlinger, “In the COVID Era, Why Corporate Benefits Demand CEO, CFO Leadership.” California Management Review, Forthcoming 2023), innovation must be consumer-driven (Regina E. Herzlinger. Consumer-Driven Health Care: Implications for Providers, Payers, and Policymakers. Jossey-Bass, 2004.)
Two current main tranches of Regi’s work are aimed at public policy innovation that will give consumers the two resources they buy to drive innovation – money, so they can reward innovators, and transparency, so they can tell a good innovation from a bad one. Currently, employers and government control the funds used to buy health care and health care transparency is an oxymoronic phrase. HBS research has simulated that giving consumers the funds currently spent by their employers to buy health insurance and requiring them to buy insurance that complies with current requirements, will increase after tax income by $151 billion, taxes by $124 billion, and control health care costs as consumers opt for less health insurance coverage and more income (Regina E. Herzlinger & Barak Richman. Give Employees Cash To Purchase Their Own Health Insurance. Harvard Business Review, December 09, 2020). The improvement in income is most pronounced for lower-income employees.
She has devised the components of a health care analogue to the Securities and Exchange Commission, so employees will have the information that will enable them to, finally, evaluate the quality and cost of their purchases can purchase wisely (Regina E. Herzlinger. The U.S. Needs an SEC for Its Health Care System. Bloomberg Opinion, August 20, 2020; Regina Herzlinger & Vonnie Quinn, How the Pandemic caused ‘A Lot of Consumer-Driven Innovation,’ Bloomberg TV, October 2020. She and colleague Richard Boxer recommend a transparency solution for hospital networks that can help to alleviate the hospital bed shortage that occurred during the peak of COVID (Regina E. Herzlinger and Richard Boxer, “Transparency As A Solution for COVID-19 Related Hospital Capacity Issues.” Health Affairs, February 18, 2022) ,which is under consideration by the US Congress.
Because success in innovation lies much more with effective implementation than with invention, Regi has also focused on a book (Innovating in Healthcare, Wiley 2024) and related field-based case studies that spell out how to create successful health care innovations and avoid failures. She has taught two popular HBS courses on the subject (Innovating in Health Care and an accompanying Field Course) that have helped to create hundreds of innovative health care firms. In addition, she created a Harvard EdX MOOC, Innovating in Healthcare, that has attracted 70,000-85.000 viewers annually since it was launched in 2015. Many of her students founded billion-dollar innovations and prominent non-profit firms and became leaders in major health corporations. Her forthcoming book Innovating in Healthcare (Wiley, 2024), contains the lessons of her courses.
Professor Herzlinger’s work is virtually unique. It is repeatedly attacked by academics, in and out of Harvard University, and the status quo stakeholders who prefer a system controlled by the government to one driven by consumers, but abetted by the government. Some of them confuse universal health insurance coverage, which she supports, with complete governmental provision of health care. Although her early critiques of holy health care grails -- such as nonprofit hospitals (once depicted as saintly but now widely recognized as greedy as businesses); transparency (consumers were “illiterate”); ACOs (Accountable Care Organizations – integrated health care providers that were to fly in the face of the miserable results achieved in integrations elsewhere in the economy and to provide everything for everybody) – proved accurate.
Professor Herzlinger’s work received this remarkable degree of criticism, likely because she is not only consumer-oriented, but also a woman. But, unlike her colleagues, the public is highly interested in her point of view. Three of her books have been best sellers in their fields and her LinkedIn posts regularly have tens of thousands of views.
She also occasionally likes to have some fun with her writing as in, Love in the Office is Wonderful. Except for CEOs. Working Knowledge, Harvard Business School. February 20, 2020 where she discusses how finding love among your colleagues can be a wonderful thing, and not inevitably career ending. Unless, of course, you are the CEO.
Prof. Herzlinger is a successful medical technology entrepreneur with her husband, an MIT Ph.D. Physicist. Their devices, which they design and manufacture in the U.S., have saved hundreds of thousands of lives. They are working on new ideas and have formed a charity to promulgate education in healthcare innovation.
- Featured Work
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In the initial phases of the COVID-19 pandemic, many US hospitals could not provide an adequate supply of beds to meet demand. Solving the problem of hospital bed capacity is of great importance in the “new normal,” which requires recognizing that SARS-CoV-2 is but one of several circulating respiratory viruses and there will be an ongoing need for hospital-based care. The burgeoning Omicron variant is already overwhelming US hospitals because of high rates of hospitalization. When looked at globally, the US has relatively low numbers of hospital beds—only 2.8 beds per thousand people compared to 8.0 beds per thousand people in Germany.
Innovating in Healthcare offers effective approaches for designing, reworking, and implementing innovative healthcare services, products, and business models. It will help anyone working in healthcare service or product development, from hospitals to startups, to question the status quo in healthcare and implement new solutions that lower costs while increasing both quality and access.
Globally, healthcare faces a threefold crisis of unsustainable economics, erratic quality, and unequal access. Just in the U.S., healthcare accounted for 18% of the 2017 GDP and will likely reach nearly 20% by 2025, while hospital-induced deaths have skyrocketed, and tens of millions of people remain uninsured. This book will focus on creating the innovations in healthcare that can meet these needs.
- Written by the world's leading authority on healthcare innovation
- Includes success stories in every segment of the health care sector
- Presents and applies the Six Factors in the environment that critically affect healthcare innovation
- Guides the reader through tailoring a business plan specifically for the new business
Designed for healthcare executives, providers, and degree students, Innovating in Healthcare is a comprehensive guide for maximizing the viability of a new healthcare product, service, or business.
The Covid-19 epidemic response has shown that the U.S. is blessed with heroic physicians and other health care providers, researchers, and facilities. But it has also revealed a health care system that was woefully unprepared for the surge of pandemic patients. In the authors’ analysis, the primary blame rests on a hospital and insurance financial model geared towards providing high priced services rather than meeting all demands for care, including pandemics. Then they outline a plan for creating a hospital sector that can better respond to the population’s health needs during a time of crisis.Employers’ and employees’ health care costs continue to skyrocket. A solution is to allow employers to give employees pre-tax cash to purchase their own health insurance. This move, enabled by a newly enacted federal rule, would put competitive pressure on insurers, driving down costs, and leave more cash in employees’ pockets.The U.S. health care system suffers from a lack of transparency. Employers, insurers and individual consumers pay varying prices for treatments, drugs and digital information of varying quality, without knowing whether the prices are relatively high or low, or whether they receive good value for the money. Suppose the health care system could, similar to what the SEC does for the financial sector, gather and publish relevant data on health care prices and outcomes. Then consumers could see which clinicians, hospitals, insurers and others provide the best value. The good ones would thrive, and the bad ones would have to either improve or go out of business.President Joe Biden’s promise to give every American access to affordable health insurance is well-intentioned, but his plan’s policy elements—a public option, a permanent expanded tax credit—require congressional approval and would expend significant political and taxpayer capital. We offer an alternative approach that could trigger substantial improvements in health care coverage, cost, and quality; that would pay for itself; and would require only executive rulemaking. - Books
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- Herzlinger, Regina E. Innovating in Healthcare: Creating Breakthrough Tech, Services, Drugs, Products, and Business Models. Boston, MA: John Wiley & Sons, forthcoming. View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina. Who Killed Health Care? America's $2 Trillion Medical Problem—and the Consumer-Driven Cure. McGraw-Hill, 2009. View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E. Consumer-Driven Health Care: Implications for Providers, Payers, and Policymakers. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2004. View Details
- Herzlinger, R. E. Measuring the Financial Performance on Nonprofit Organizations: Text and Cases. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Publishing, 1997. View Details
- Herzlinger, R. E. Measuring the Financial Performance of Nonprofit Organizations: Solutions Manual. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Publishing, 1997. View Details
- Herzlinger, R. E. Market-Driven Health Care. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, 1996. (Winner of James A. Hamilton Award Given annually to the author of a management or healthcare book judged outstanding by the American College of Healthcare Executives' Book of the Year Committee presented by American College of Healthcare Executives. Reviewed in The Economist, Fortune, Journal of the AMA, New England Journal of Medicine, Wall Street Journal, among many others. Ingram's Current Events best seller.) View Details
- Herzlinger, R. E., and D. Nitterhouse. Financial Accounting and Managerial Control for Nonprofit Organizations. Cincinnati: South-Western Publishing Company, 1994. View Details
- Herzlinger, R. E. Creating New Health Care Ventures: The Role of Management. Gaithersburg, MD: Aspen Publishing, 1992. View Details
- Journal Articles
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- Herzlinger, Regina E., Duke Rohlen, Ben Creo, and Will Kynes. "The Middle Path to Innovation." Harvard Business Review 102, no. 4 (July–August 2024): 134–145. View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., Richard J. Boxer, and Ben Creo. "Require Hospitals to Disclose Their Pandemic Plans Now." Health Affairs Forefront (May 2, 2024). View Details
- Levin, Zachary, Pinar Karaca-Mandic, Richard J. Boxer, and Regina E. Herzlinger. "Association of Hospital System Affiliation with COVID-19 Capacity Burden." Health Management, Policy and Innovation 8, no. 3 (December 2023). View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E. "In the COVID Era, Why Corporate Benefits Demand CEO/CFO Leadership." CMR Insights (April 24, 2023). View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., Barak D. Richman, and Kevin A. Schulman. "Maintaining Health Care Innovations After the Pandemic." e225404. JAMA Health Forum 4, no. 2 (February 2023). View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., and Richard Boxer. "From Bupkis to Sechel in Health Care." JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association (forthcoming). View Details
- "Interview with a Quality Leader: Regina E. Herzlinger on Consumer-Driven Healthcare." Journal for Healthcare Quality 30, no. 4 (July–August 2008): 17–19. View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E. "Hospital Capacity Shortages: An SEC-Backed Transparency “PULL” Will Open Beds Faster Than a “PUSH” by HHS." Healthcare Business Today (March 5, 2022). View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., and Richard Boxer. "Want to Prevent the Next Hospital Bed Crisis? Enlist the SEC." Harvard Business School Working Knowledge (February 24, 2022). View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., and Richard Boxer. "Transparency as a Solution for COVID-19 Related Hospital Capacity Issues." Health Affairs Forefront (February 18, 2022). View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E. "Transparency as a Solution for the Hospital Capacity Problem." Ohio State Law Journal 82, no. 5 (December 2021): 787–794. View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., and Barak D. Richman. "Cutting the Gordian Knot of Employee Health Care Benefits and Costs: A Corporate Model Built on Employee Choice." Health Affairs Blog (June 15, 2021). View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., and Barak D. Richman. "Preparing Hospitals for the Next Pandemic." Harvard Business Review Digital Articles (June 10, 2021). View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., and Barak D. Richman. "Cutting the Gordian Knot of Employee Health Care Benefits and Costs: A Corporate Model Built on Employee Choice." Duke Law School Public Law & Legal Theory Series, No. 2020-4, December 2019. (Revised January 2021.) View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., and Eugene Schneller. "Ten Year Sunset Rule for Healthcare Regulation Is a Nonstarter and Discouragement to Post-COVID-19 Investment." Journal of Health Care Finance 47, no. 4 (Spring 2021). (Special Commentary.) View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., and Barak D. Richman. "Give Employees Cash to Purchase Their Own Insurance." Harvard Business Review (website) (December 9, 2020). View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., and Barak D. Richman. "Thinking Outside the Box (12): The Benefits of Increased Transparency in Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance for the 180 Million Insured." Duke Law School Public Law & Legal Theory Series, No. 2020-4, December 2019. View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., and Jared Mueller. "Interview with Professor Regina Herzlinger on Balancing Entrepreneurship and Corporate Governance with a Prominent Academic Career." Mayo Clinic Innovation Exchange (August 6, 2020). https://innovationexchange.mayoclinic.org/interview-with-professor-regina-herzlinger-on-balancing-entrepreneurship-and-corporate-governance-with-a-prominent-academic-career/. View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., and Bacchus Barua. "Europe's Alternative to Medicare for All: Swiss and Dutch Private Insurance Provide Better Coverage Than Canada's Single-Payer System." Wall Street Journal (April 17, 2019). View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., and Richard Boxer. "The Case for the Public Option Over Medicare for All." Harvard Business Review Digital Articles (October 10, 2019): 2–5. View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., and Richard Boxer. "A Public Option Can Be a Triple Win for U.S. Healthcare." Health Management, Policy and Innovation 4, no. 3 (December 2019). View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., and James Wallace. "Medicare for All or Public Option: Can Either Heal Health Care?" Harvard Business School Working Knowledge (January 2, 2020). View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E. "Love in the Office Is Wonderful. Except for CEOs." Harvard Business School Working Knowledge (February 20, 2020). View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., and Richard Boxer. "It's Time for a Bipartisan Health Plan for Employers and Employees." Harvard Business School Working Knowledge (July 20, 2020). View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E. "The U.S. Needs an SEC for Its Health Care System." Bloomberg Opinion (August 20, 2020). View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., and Richard Boxer. "How to Pay for Public Option Without Tax Hike." RealClearPolicy (September 2, 2020). View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., Richard Boxer, and James Wallace. "Bipartisan Tax-Free Solution to Health Care Financing: Coupling HRAs With a Public Option." Health Affairs Blog (June 30, 2020). View Details
- Cases and Teaching Materials
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- Herzlinger, Regina E., and John McDonough. "Fighting the Battle of the Bulge—Evaluating Do Good/Do Well Innovations in Morbid Obesity Treatment." Harvard Business School Case 304-009, August 2003. (Revised August 2024.) View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., Ben Creo, Lee Kaplan, and Brian L. Walker. "Note on Creating Business Plans for Innovative Health Care Ventures." Harvard Business School Background Note 325-026, August 2024. View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., Zachery Page, and Ben Creo. "Note on Adherence in Healthcare." Harvard Business School Background Note 325-025, August 2024. (Revised August 2024.) View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., and James Wallace. "Evaluating Innovations in the Organization of Primary Care: What Type of Innovation Is It and How Well Does It Align with the Six Factors?" Harvard Business School Background Note 324-037, January 2024. View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E. "Fighting the Battle of the Bulge—Evaluating Do Good/Do Well Innovations in Morbid Obesity Treatment." Harvard Business School PowerPoint Supplement 324-016, September 2023. View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E. "Fighting the Battle of the Bulge—Evaluating Do Good/Do Well Innovations in Morbid Obesity Treatment." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 324-013, September 2023. View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., and Ben Creo. "Note on Healthcare in Ghana." Harvard Business School Background Note 323-112, April 2023. (Revised January 2024.) View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., and James Wallace. "Identify the Health Care Venture." Harvard Business School Exercise 323-061, January 2023. View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., and James Wallace. "Identify the Health Care Venture." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 323-062, January 2023. View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., and Ben Creo. "Ajax Health: A New Model for Medical Technology Innovation." Harvard Business School Case 323-043, November 2022. View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina, and Brian Walker. "Cleave Therapeutics: Taking a Risk on Oncology Drug Discovery." Harvard Business School Case 323-045, January 2023. View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., and Tiffany Farrell. "The Battle Among Channels for Marketing Pharmaceuticals: UpScript, Pharmacy Benefit Managers, and Direct-to-Consumer Sales." Harvard Business School Case 323-031, November 2022. View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., and Ashley Ifeadike. "Humana (B) — Strategy Execution." Harvard Business School Supplement 321-098, March 2021. (Revised December 2021.) View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., Margo I. Seltzer, and Kevin Schulman. "Innovating in Healthcare." edX Inc., 2015. Video. (HarvardX Massive Open Online Course.) View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., Alec Petersen, Natalie Kindred, and Sara M. McKinley. "Philips: Redefining Telehealth." Harvard Business School Case 321-135, March 2021. (Revised January 2022.) (As companion reading for this case, see: Regina E. Herzlinger and Charles Huang. "Note on Bundled Payment in Health Care," HBS Background Note 312-032.) View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., and Ashley Ifeadike. "Humana (C) — Reorganization." Harvard Business School Supplement 321-122, March 2021. View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., and Ashley Ifeadike. "Humana (A)." Harvard Business School Case 321-097, March 2021. View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., Samyukta Mullangi, and Nicholas Samonas. "Aledade." Harvard Business School Case 321-131, March 2021. (Revised July 2021.) View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., Eshani Sharma, Andrew Nguyen, Thomas Arsenault, Carin-Isabel Knoop, and Julia Kelley. "Marvin: A Personalized Telehealth Approach to Mental Health." Harvard Business School Case 321-127, February 2021. (Revised March 2022.) View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., Gregory P. Licholai, and Federica Gabrieli. "Brainlab: Imaging a MedTech Future." Harvard Business School Case 321-087, February 2021. (Revised June 2021.) View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina, Ana Maria Malik, Ruth Costas, and Priscilla Zogbi. "Amil and the Health Care System in Brazil (B)." Harvard Business School Supplement 318-149, June 2018. View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., Emer Moloney, and Daniela Beyersdorfer. "La Ribera Health Department (B): Epilogue." Harvard Business School Supplement 318-134, May 2018. (Revised October 2020.) View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., and James Wallace. "Health Savings Accounts: Enabling Consumer Participation." Harvard Business School Case 318-110, February 2018. View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina. "Health Stop (A) and (B)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 318-047, August 2017. View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E. "CV Ingenuity (A) and (B)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 317-119, April 2017. View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., Ana Maria Malik, and Priscilla Zogbi. "Prevent Senior: A New Paradigm for Growth in the Health Care Sector?" Harvard Business School Case 317-073, May 2017. (Revised February 2021.) View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., Carin-Isabel Knoop, and Olivia Hull. "Hebrew SeniorLife: Next Steps." Harvard Business School Case 317-038, February 2017. (Revised February 2021.) View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., Christine Snively, and Sarah Mehta. "Fitbit." Harvard Business School Case 317-007, January 2017. (Revised March 2021.) View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., Esel Çekin, Natalie Kindred, and Gamze Yucaoglu. "Acıbadem Healthcare Group." Harvard Business School Case 315-120, May 2015. View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina, Ana Maria Malik, and Andrew Otazo. "Vitalia Franchise (B): Vitalia Brasil." Harvard Business School Supplement 317-022, September 2016. View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., Jeet Guram, and Aanchal Raj. "Emdeon's Acquisition of Change Healthcare: Innovating Transparency Solutions for Health Care Consumers." Harvard Business School Case 316-026, September 2015. (Revised February 2023.) View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E. "OdontoPrev (B)." Harvard Business School Supplement 315-125, May 2015. View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., and Andrew Otazo. "CV Ingenuity (B): Epilogue." Harvard Business School Supplement 315-087, March 2015. (Revised February 2022.) View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., and Andrew Otazo. "CV Ingenuity (A): How to Evaluate the Commercial Viability of New Health Care Technologies." Harvard Business School Case 315-045, March 2015. (Revised January 2024.) View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., and Natalie Kindred. "Bonitas." Harvard Business School Case 315-020, March 2015. (Revised November 2017.) View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., Kevin Schulman, and Frédéric Dijols. "Improving Melanoma Screening: MELA Sciences." Harvard Business School Case 315-042, December 2014. (Revised August 2015.) View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., Kevin Schulman, and F. Fallon Upke. "MedCath Corporation (C)." Harvard Business School Supplement 315-018, February 2015. View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., and Stacy Schwartz. "Hospital for Special Surgery (A)." Harvard Business School Case 315-012, August 2014. (Revised February 2021.) View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., Emer Moloney, and Daniela Beyersdorfer. "La Ribera Health Department (A)." Harvard Business School Case 315-006, September 2014. (Revised March 2021.) View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., and Meng Li. "Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida, Inc." Harvard Business School Case 315-009, August 2014. View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., and Natalie Kindred. "Health Care Accountability: Examples in Cancer Treatment." Harvard Business School Case 314-109, May 2014. View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., and Natalie Kindred. "Cancer Treatment Centers of America® (B)." Harvard Business School Supplement 314-003, March 2014. (Revised September 2014.) View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., and Karol Misztal. "Reinventing Brainlab (B)." Harvard Business School Supplement 314-054, December 2013. (Revised February 2014.) View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E. "Vitalia Franchise." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 314-072, November 2013. View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., Pushwaz Virk, and Natalie Kindred. "Fortis Healthcare: Transnational Hospital Network." Harvard Business School Case 314-047, September 2013. (Revised June 2015.) View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., Matthew Lingenbrink, Joshua Turnbull, and Ricardo Reisen De Pinho. "OdontoPrev." Harvard Business School Case 314-038, September 2013. (Revised May 2014.) View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina. "AxSys." Harvard Business School Case 314-039, September 2013. (Revised August 2014.) View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., and Da Liu. "Ping An Health (PAH): Towards a Comprehensive Private Health Insurance Market in China." Harvard Business School Case 314-042, September 2013. (Revised August 2014.) View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., and Kyle Bertke. "Population Health Management—Techniques and Tools." Harvard Business School Technical Note 314-041, August 2013. (Revised August 2014.) View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., and Kyle Bertke. "Health Information Exchanges." Harvard Business School Technical Note 314-040, August 2013. (Revised August 2014.) View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., Aiden Y. Feng, and Meghan D. Oliver. "Aon Hewitt's Private Health Insurance Exchange." Harvard Business School Case 314-037, August 2013. (Revised August 2014.) View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E. "Innovating in Health Care—Framework." Harvard Business School Background Note 314-017, July 2013. (Revised July 2015.) View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina. "Philips-Visicu: eICU Video Supplement." Harvard Business School Video Supplement 313-701, June 2013. View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., Vincent Dessain, and Karol Misztal. "Reinventing Brainlab (A)." Harvard Business School Case 313-069, September 2012. (Revised March 2014.) View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., and T. Forcht Dagi. "Note on Radiation Therapy, Stereotaxis, and Stereotactic Radiosurgery." Harvard Business School Background Note 313-073, September 2012. (Revised August 2014.) View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., Natalie Kindred, and Sara M. McKinley. "Philips-Visicu." Harvard Business School Case 313-015, September 2012. (Revised May 2015.) (As companion reading for this case, see Regina E. Herzlinger and Charles Huang, "Note on Bundled Payment in Health Care," HBS No. 312-032 (Boston: Harvard Business Publishing, 2012).) View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., and Natalie Kindred. "Shanghai Pharmaceuticals." Harvard Business School Case 313-016, September 2012. (Revised August 2015.) View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina, and Drew Cronin-Fine. "Note on Pharmaceutical Reimbursement in the U.S." Harvard Business School Module Note 313-074, August 2012. (Revised January 2013.) View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E. "Evaluating the Viability of Innovative Technology-Commercializing Ventures." Harvard Business School Module Note 313-070, August 2012. (Revised August 2024.) View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., and Jo Ellen Slurzberg. "Note on Health Insurance Coverage, Coding, and Payment." Harvard Business School Background Note 313-042, August 2012. (Revised December 2023.) View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., and Erik R. Sparks. "ABC Pharmaceuticals." Harvard Business School Case 313-041, August 2012. (Revised August 2024.) View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina, and Jordan Bazinsky. "Public Health Insurance Exchanges: The Massachusetts Experience." Harvard Business School Case 313-043, August 2012. (Revised January 2013.) View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., Amit Ghorawat, Meera Krishnan, and Naiyya Saggi. "Hub and Spoke, HealthCare Global and Additional Focused Factory Models for Cancer Care." Harvard Business School Case 313-030, August 2012. (Revised February 2021.) View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., and Natalie Kindred. "Cancer Treatment Centers of America® (A)." Harvard Business School Case 313-012, August 2012. (Revised August 2014.) View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., and Natalie Kindred. "McKesson (TP)." Harvard Business School Teaching Plan 312-121, May 2012. (Revised April 2013.) View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., and Natalie Kindred. "McKesson." Harvard Business School Case 312-002, May 2012. (Revised August 2014.) View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., and Natalie Kindred. "PAREXEL International Corp.: Stages of Innovation." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 312-057, March 2012. (Revised April 2017.) View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E. "WellPoint, Inc. (TN)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 312-069, November 2011. View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., and Jillian Copeland. "Note on Telemedicine." Harvard Business School Background Note 310-075, January 2010. (Revised August 2012.) View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., and Charles C. Huang. "Note on Bundled Payment in Health Care." Harvard Business School Background Note 312-032, September 2011. (Revised August 2014.) View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., Selin Gunal Tyler, and Charles C. Huang. "Social Media in Health Care." Harvard Business School Background Note 311-093, March 2011. (Revised August 2014.) View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., and Ricardo Reisen de Pinho. "Amil and the Health Care System in Brazil." Harvard Business School Case 312-029, August 2011. (Revised July 2014.) View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., and Alfred Martin. "Connectivity in Health Care." Harvard Business School Background Note 307-047, August 2006. (Revised August 2012.) View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., Joyce Lallman, Nancy Kane, Jefferson C. Grahling, and James Wallace. "Health Stop (A): What Type of Innovation Is It? And Six Factors Alignment." Harvard Business School Case 185-084, February 1985. (Revised January 2024.) View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., and Michael Sherman. "HealthAllies (A)." Harvard Business School Case 302-019, August 2012. (Revised from original August 2001 version.) View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., Miguel Abecasis, and Brenda Cheng. "Cardinal Health (A): The Medicine Shoppe Acquisition." Harvard Business School Case 303-043, September 2002. (Revised August 2014.) View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., and Laura Low Ah Kee. "Hospital for Special Surgery (B): Continuing Challenges of Growth." Harvard Business School Supplement 310-077, January 2010. (Revised August 2012.) View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., and Ramona Hilgenkamp. "Identify the Nonprofit (TN)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 197-012, July 1996. (Revised February 2011.) View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E. "The Global Sight Initiative." Harvard Business School Case 311-034, September 2010. (Revised February 2014.) View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., and Beatriz Munoz-Seca. "Vitalia Franchise." Harvard Business School Case 311-035, August 2010. (Revised February 2014.) View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., and Charlie Attlan. "Boston Scientific Corporation (A)." Harvard Business School Case 310-079, March 2010. (Revised May 2010.) View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E. "The Vitality Group: Paying for Self-Care." Harvard Business School Case 310-071, February 2010. (Revised February 2021.) View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E. "WellSpace Treatment Centers for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (B) - The Marino Center." Harvard Business School Supplement 310-082, March 2010. (Revised August 2012.) View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., and Charlie Attlan. "Boston Scientific Corporation (B)." Harvard Business School Supplement 310-080, March 2010. View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E. "MedVal Ventures, Fortis Healthcare (A), Fortis Healthcare (B), and Note on Medical Travel (TN)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 310-076, January 2010. View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., and Mark P. Allyn. "Medtronic: Patient Management Initiative (A)." Harvard Business School Case 302-005, July 2001. (Revised March 2020.) View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E. "Medtronic: Patient Management Initiative (B)." Harvard Business School Supplement 309-064, September 2008. (Revised March 2020.) View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., John Hurwitch, and Seth Bokser. "Consumer-Driven Health Care: Medtronic's Health Insurance Options." Harvard Business School Case 302-006, August 2001. (Revised February 2020.) View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., and Tom Nagle. "Note on Reimbursement of Health Care Providers: Case-Based and Capitation Payment." Harvard Business School Background Note 194-141, May 1994. (Revised February 2021.) View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., and D. Scott Lurding. "Innovative Opportunities to Manage Health Care Delivery." Harvard Business School Case 197-011, July 1996. (Revised August 2024.) View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E. "Anthem, Inc." Harvard Business School Case 307-051, August 2006. (Revised February 2021.) View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., Keyne M. Monson, and Juan D. Betancourt. "Immusol and Novartis." Harvard Business School Case 303-038, April 2009. (Revised from original October 2002 version.) View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E. "Health Stop (B): Starting Up." Harvard Business School Supplement 196-051, August 1995. (Revised January 2024.) View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E. "Innovating in Health Care-Glossary." Harvard Business School Background Note 307-011, July 2006. (Revised August 2012.) View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E. "Consumer-Driven Health Care: A Revolution for Employers, Consumers, and Providers." Boston: Harvard Business School Publishing Class Lecture, 2004. Electronic. (Faculty Lecture: HBSP Product Number 5992C.) View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E. "Health Stop (A) and (B), Teaching Note." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 187-125, March 1987. (Revised September 1988.) View Details
- Presentations
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- "Innovation Opportunities Created by COVID-19 Can Help: And How to Make Them Happen." Fortnightly of Chicago, April 18, 2024. View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E. "Health Care Innovation Opportunities Created by COVID-19 and How to Make Them Happen." Harvard Business School Alumni Reunion, Boston, MA, June 3, 2023. (Link to cases described in this talk.) View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E. "Lessons from U.S. COVID Hospital Crisis." Henry Stewart Talks Ltd., September 29, 2022. View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E. "How To Make Healthcare Innovation Happen." Raise the Line (podcast), Osmosis, December 2, 2021. View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., and Vivian Lee. Perspectives in Health: Verily Health: "The Long Fix—Lessons from the Front Lines of Health Care and Health Tech". Harvard Business School, October 8, 2020. View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E. "Pandemic Caused 'A Lot of Consumer-Driven Innovation': Harvard's Herzlinger." Bloomberg Television, October 15, 2020. View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., Bruce Rosen, Avi Israeli, and Steve Shortell. "Improving Health and Health Care: Who is Responsible? Who is Accountable?" International Jerusalem Conference on Health Policy, December 01, 2010. View Details
- Other Publications and Materials
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- Herzlinger, Regina E. "To Prepare for Future Surges, U.S. Hospitals Must Start Planning—& Sharing Resources—Now!" Medical Device News Magazine (November 1, 2022). View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E. "The Children of Ukraine Are Our Hope for the Future." Medium (May 2, 2022). View Details
- "As Healthcare Costs Escalate, A New George and Regi Herzlinger Industry Award Shines a Spotlight on Innovation Education." Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education (CAHME), March 2021. View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., Anthony Stanowski, Edward Schumacher, Eugene Schneller, Kaveh Safavi, Quint Studer, Andrew Jay, Tom Robinson, and Kevin Mahoney. "Go Out and Innovate! Perspectives on Educating Health Care Leadership in the Time of Innovation." White Paper, Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education (CAHME), November 2021. View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E. "Digital Health Care: Empowering Consumers: Q&A with Professor Regina Herzlinger." HBS Alumni Bulletin (December 2020). View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E. "Benchmarks For Confronting The Challenges For Innovation In Health Care With A Modern Curriculum: 21st-Century Health Care Management Education: Confronting Challenges for Innovation with a Modern Curriculum." White Paper Series, Harvard Business School, Boston, MA, January 2013. View Details
- Herzlinger, R. E. "Consumer-Driven Health Care: Lessons from Switzerland." View Details
- Research Summary
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Winner of the Harvard Business School outstanding teacher award and research awards from U.S. and international health care and accounting organizations: 2016 “60 of the Most Powerful People in Healthcare in 2016,” Becker’s Hospital Review, January 3, 2017 ; 2014 Alumni Achievement Award; Academy of Healthcare Executives Research Award (three times); 2008 U.S. Chamber of Commerce – Who Killed Health Care? – Books that Changed the Debate; 2008 Fellow of American College of Physician Executives; 2004 Healthcare Financial Management Association’s Board of Directors Award recipient; named by Managed Healthcare as one of the top ten thinkers; honored as the Consumers for Health Care Choices Pioneer in Health Economics.Since 1999, Professor Herzlinger's work in this area has provided the major impetus for the transformation of the health care sector: first in new consumer-driven insurance products sold by established insurers such as Aetna, United and CIGNA, as well as entrepreneurial firms; and, second, in the appearance of health care focused factories. She has authored a major new book, Who Killed Health Care? (McGraw-Hill, 2007); the best-selling Market-Driven Health Care and Consumer-Driven Health Care; major journal articles; a Harvard Business School Publishing video; and a number of Wall Street Journal articles and Marketplace (NPR) editorials. Professor Herzlinger is widely quoted and interviewed on the subject.Since 2001, Professor Herzlinger has written over 50 new cases and notes for this second-year MBA course on the following subjects: insurance; providers; pharmaceuticals, diagnostics, and biotechnology; medical devices sector; and health care information. She is completing the Instructors Guide for 2011 publication.
Why do non-profit, public, and private business organizations exist? This project, begun in 2005, will became a seminar in 2007, focusing on the unique missions of these organizational forms and the resulting mechanisms for effective oversight.
- Teaching
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Course Requirements
Students are required to prepare a business plan, which employs the framework of this course, to explore an entrepreneurial opportunity in health care, and to evaluate their classmates' plans.
Career Focus
For students interested in careers in entrepreneurial health care management, consulting, and investing. Educational Objectives
Innovating in Health Care (IHC) helps students to create successful entrepreneurial health care ventures by enabling them to:
Identify the alignment between an entrepreneurial health care venture and the Six Forces that shape health care - structure, financing, technology, consumers, accountability, and public policy. Create a business model that responds appropriately to any misalignments. Innovating in Health Care embraces every part of the health care sector, including insurance, services, IT, medical devices, biotechnology, diagnostics, and pharmaceuticals. The course has a global focus with case studies set in Brazil, India, Spain, the U.K., and the U.S., among other countries. Content and Organization
The course is organized into four modules:
In the first, Innovating in Health Care introduces students, through case studies, to the analytic framework of the Six Factors that critically shape new health care ventures and their impact on business models for three different kinds of health care innovations: consumer-focused, technology-driven, and consolidations.
The next module uses case studies to discuss each of the Six Factors in detail.
The third module discusses case studies of firms that succeeded or floundered in response to their alignment with the Six Factors, typically with the case protagonists present.
In the last module, selected students present their business plans to the class.
As an example of the discussion of the Six Factors, one section focuses on how the financing force affects new ventures, i.e., how do innovators get paid? The answer differs from that in most other sectors of the economy because the health care industry in virtually all developed countries is typically financed by a third party, not its users. In the U.S., employers are the primary sources of payment through private health insurance companies. State and federal governments pay for most of the health care expenses for their employees, the elderly and the poor. The health care expenses in other developed countries are typically paid by governments.
The "Note on Financing" explains the overall financing of health care in the U.S. and other countries, the interest of consumers in these financing mechanisms, the different kinds of insurance plans used by employers and government, and the accountability and public policy issues they raise. It is accompanied by case studies of four health insurance firms-one is an integrator (WellPoint). The other three describe entrepreneurial firms which newly offered HMOs (THG), high-deductible insurance (Consumer-Driven Health Care: Medtronic), and vertically integrated health care in Brazil (Amil). The "Note on Health Insurance Coverage, Coding, and Payment" explains how these processes operate for various types of medical technology products and related service providers. Cases about an innovative medical technology company (ABC) and a health service integrator (MedCath) enable students to apply these principles. - Awards & Honors
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Winner of the 2020–21 Bugbee-Falk Book Award from the Association of University Programs in Health Administration (AUPHA) for Innovating in Health Care (Wiley, forthcoming).Named one of the 60 Most Powerful People in Healthcare by Becker’s Hospital Review in 2017.Recognized as an Honorary Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives in 2017.Named one of Healthcare Management International's "100 Most Influential People in Healthcare--World Edition" in the Education category in 2017.Received the 2014 Beatrice D. Ellerin Award from the HBS Health Industry Alumni. The prestigious and competitive Ellerin award recognizes an outstanding leader in the health care industry who has made a significant contribution to shaping her or his field.Named one of the 40 Smartest People in Healthcare by Becker’s Hospital Review in 2014.Awarded honorary membership in the American College of Physician Executives in 2008 in recognition of her many contributions to the advancement of medical management.Winner of the 2007 Pioneer in Health Economics Award from Consumers for Health Care Choices.Winner of the 2000 Articles of Merit Competition of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) Financial and Management Accounting Committee for "The Outsiders" (Management Accounting, June 2000).Winner of the 1998 James A. Hamilton Book of the Year Award presented by American College of Healthcare Executives for Market-Driven Health Care (Addison-Wesley Publishing Co. Inc., 1996).Established the George and Regi Herzlinger Award for the Development of Educational Skills Focusing on Invention, Evaluation, and Adoption of Innovation in Healthcare from the Commission on the Accreditation of Health Management Education (CAHME).Received the Robert F. Greenhill Award for Outstanding Service to the HBS Community in 2022.
- Additional Information
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- edX - Innovating in Health Care
- The Digital, Data and Design (D^3) Institute at Harvard
Op-Eds- Europe's Alternative to Medicare for All
- The IRS Can Save American Health Care
- It'll Take More Than A Band-Aid To Fix Medicaid
- Here's How to Pay for the Public Option Without Raising Taxes
- Why American Health Care Needs Its Own SEC
- The U.S. Needs an SEC for its Health Care System
Interviews & Appearances- “Godmother of Consumer-Driven Healthcare”: An Interview with Regina Herzlinger
- Veeral Desai (agilon) Visits Regina Herzlinger's HBS Class (LinkedIn Post)
- Gregory Rockson's Visit to Regina Herzlinger's HBS Class (LinkedIn Post)
- 2024 CAHME/George and Regi Herzlinger Innovation Education Award Winners Announcement
- 2023 Winners of the CAHME | Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education | George & Regina Herzlinger Innovation Education Award (LinkedIn Post)
- Cold Call Podcast - Can Business Transform Primary Health Care Across Africa?
- Success Made to Last Podcast - Success Legends with Regina E. Herzlinger "godmother of consumer healthcare" - You Have to Do Something Good
- First Female Harvard Business School Chair
- HBS Medicine & Management Seminar
- Raise the Line Podcast - How To Make Healthcare innovation Happen
- SHINE Summit Keynote Speech - Impact of COVID-19 On Our Healthcare Environment
- Edward Shin's Q Reviews Podcast - "The US Healthcare System: From Dysfunction to Functioning"
- Health Care Leaders with David Ridley
- Harvard Business School Cold Call - Evaluating Innovative Health Care Solutions for Obesity.
- Quint Studer's The Busy Leaders Podcast - Why Innovations Fail and the Blueprint for Getting Them Right
- The Groves Connection Podcast - They Call Me Regi
- Bloomberg TV - The Pandemic Caused 'A Lot' of Consumer-Driven Innovation
- HBS Perspectives in Health Webinar Series. Thermo Fisher Scientific: Leading in the Pandemic Response.
- Interview with Professor Regina Herzlinger on Balancing Entrepreneurship and Corporate Governance with a Prominent Academic Career
- Gil Eapen's Podcast on Retail Medical Centers and Public Policy
- Areas of Interest
- In The News