Interview with a quality leader: Regina E. Herzlinger on consumer-driven healthcare. Interview by Carole S. Guinane.

Regina E. Herzlinger is the Nancy R. McPherson Professor of Business Administration Chair at the Harvard Business School, Cambridge, MA.

An affordable physician- and consumer-friendly health care system: 2008 democratic and republican presidential candidates' views.

Winter issues of The American Heart Hospital Journal traditionally focus on health care policy issues. As health care reform in the United States is a topic of major importance in the upcoming presidential election, we invited Dr Regina E. Herzlinger, the Nancy R.

Consumerism and controversy: a conversation with Regina Herzlinger by Robert S Galvin.

Regina Herzlinger catalyzed a national dialogue with the publication of her book Market-Driven Health Care in 1997. Her core argument is that health care should resemble other retail markets, where unleashing consumer choice results in competition and innovations that improve value. In an often pitched debate, critics contend that health care is far too complicated for this model to work.

Why innovation in health care is so hard.

Health care in the United States--and in most other developed countries--is ailing. Medical treatment has made astonishing advances, but the packaging and delivery of health care are often inefficient, ineffective, and user unfriendly. Problems ranging from costs to medical errors beg for ingenious solutions-and indeed, enormous investments have been made in innovation.

Consumer-driven health care: lessons from Switzerland.

Switzerland's consumer-driven health care system achieves universal insurance and high quality of care at significantly lower costs than the employer-based US system and without the constrained resources that can characterize government-controlled systems. Unlike other systems in which the choice and most of the funding for health insurance is provided by third parties, such as employers and governments, in the Swiss system, individuals are required to purchase their own health insurance. The positive results achieved by the Swiss system may be attributed to its consumer control, price transparency of the insurance plans, risk adjustment of insurers, and solidarity.

Consumer-driven health care. Freeing providers to innovate.

Corporate entrepreneurs drive improvements in a productive economy and are rewarded financially. The U.S.