Will Disruptive Innovation Cure Health Care
Reading: “Will Disruptive Innovation Cure Health Care?” (30 min.)
In the reflection memo, please discuss your thoughts on the article e.g.
What surprised you?
How does it relate to what we have discussed in class?
Do you have personal experiences that you can relate to the article?
What thoughts do you have that expand on the article?
What do you think happens next?
Sample Solution
The theory of disruptive innovation was first proposed in 1995 by Clayton Christensen, a Harvard Business School professor, to describe innovations that allow smaller market participants, with relatively few resources, to challenge large, established incumbents. The theory of disruptive innovation operates in the healthcare industry. Instead of requesting complex, expensive institutions and specialized professionals to move down-market, disruptive innovation allows the provision of healthcare to be done in more cost-effective and convenient ways. So, will disruptive innovation cure health care? Disruptive innovation doesn’t always lead to lower total health care costs, especially within a fee-for-service system that encourages greater resource use. New, less expensive procedures are often less invasive, which increases the number of patients who could benefit from the intervention.
