Widely-noted health care expert Regina E. Herzlinger of Harvard Business School was one of the speakers on hand for IESE Business School's 16th Annual Health Technology Industry Meeting on the Madrid campus recently. IESE Prof. Pedro Nueno was the organizer of the event.

In her presentation, Prof. Herzlinger discussed the United States' $2 trillion annual health spending and the range of options currently being considered in the health care reform debate. Herzlinger has argued that the Swiss model is a viable one for the U.S. to follow.

Other speakers at the event included Daniel Carreño, President of General Electric Healthcare for Spain and Portugal; and Juan Ramón Hernani, Spain's Secretary of Innovation.

Among the diverse companies in the health and pharmaceutical sector represented at the meeting were Roche, Alcon, Baxter, Anprosa, Biomet, Palex, Hospal, Prim, and Fresenius.

During the day's sessions, speakers stressed  that investments in innovation in the health sector are beneficial for the general population, as well as medical and pharmaceutical industries.

Among the topics addressed were the aging population, immigration and changing lifestyles. In this last category, increasing illnesses linked with behaviors such as being sedentary (obesity, diabetes, hypertension), stress (cardiovascular problems and pollution (respiratory problems) were highlighted by Carreño. He described GE's emphasis on using new technologies to help prevent diseases, rather than diagnose them, which has the potential to significantly reduce overall health costs.