Across Europe leaders in government, industry, and academia are wrestling with a common dilemma: how to bring the benefits of technology to patients while keeping health care affordable and accessible. A delicate balance exists between the need to spur economic development through innovations in technology, and the belief that these advances should be made available to patients at a reasonable cost. In addition to understanding the complexity of factors affecting health care systems, executives must develop leadership strategies that enable them to drive innovation and lead change in health care policy and management.


In 2004, the Institute of Health Economics and Management at the Université de Lausanne in Switzerland teamed with Harvard Medical International to deliver the first of a series of executive education programs aimed at European health care leadership in both the public and private sectors. The five-day program, entitled "Your Future in Health Care: Matching Costs and Benefits," has been offered annually since then.
  • Program faculty include leading European experts in health policy studies and implementation.
  • Course participants include representatives of government, industry, academia, and health care delivery, primarily from Europe
  • Presentations and discussions address concepts important for health care executives, including ways to compare health care systems, evaluate technology, control health care costs, measure and improve quality, and understand the principles underlying innovation.


The course has well received by the participants, many of whom have cited the value of hearing the perspectives of other professionals working with different approaches to health care.