Focused Factories: A Path to Reduce Cost and Boost Quality

The role of specialization in our economy dates back to the 18th century. Now fast-forward to healthcare in the present day: one application of specialization is the concept of a focused factory, where care providers focus on one or two specific organs or disease processes. Host Dr. Jack Lewin welcomes Dr. Regina Herzlinger, the Nancy R. McPherson Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School, for an interesting conversation about the potential role of focused factories in healthcare. We have seen this model take hold in a few areas of medicine, including cardiology, but is the time ripe for an expansion of the focused factory model? Dr. Herzlinger also explains where a specialty hospital or a general tertiary care facility would fit within this system.