Healthcare Regulation & Management

The marketing of medical devices and approval of pharmaceuticals requires compliance with the highest standards of quality, safety, and efficacy. Research examines how to achieve an optimal balance between safety, efficacy, and innovation under changing technological conditions. With the increasing importance of artificial intelligence in medical software products, real-world data applications, and personalised medicine, new regulatory challenges emerge. These require continuous adaptation of legal regulations and assessment methods, focusing on governance between state actors, regulatory authorities, and industry.

Modern healthcare systems face the challenge of developing evidence-based assessment procedures for new technologies. From an administrative science perspective, research analyses how reimbursement regulation as a public function must be structured to ensure fair and value-based compensation. Governance mechanisms between health insurers, authorities, and service providers are examined to create innovation incentives while securing healthcare system affordability. Evidence-based processes are increasingly used to systematically evaluate healthcare technologies compared to treatment alternatives.

International comparison of healthcare systems as public institutions enables evidence-based reforms and improvements. Research develops innovative methodological approaches to create comparable analyses despite different institutional frameworks, population structures, and historically evolved administrative structures. This work contributes evidence generation in governing public tasks and provides foundations for regulatory measures at the health system level. International comparisons enable drawing conclusions for continuous improvement of national healthcare systems.

Research investigates specific cases of market failure in healthcare where state intervention becomes necessary. A focus area is the development of new antibiotics, where despite urgent societal need and available technological solutions, economic disincentives prevent market launch. Analysing such regulatory challenges and developing solutions demonstrates how administrative science expertise can contribute to overcoming market failures.

As part of Switzerland’s political-administrative centre, we provide active knowledge transfer from research to political practice. The transfer of scientific findings into political decisions occurs through expert activities and advisory services to parliamentarians and administration in creating legal frameworks. This includes developing regulatory solutions to improve healthcare system efficiency and prevent market failures in critical healthcare technologies.

Research at the interface of science, clinical practice, and policy examines how regulatory frameworks influence innovation transfer. The close connection with sitem-insel creates unique translation-oriented research projects that generate direct societal benefit. Our interdisciplinary approach connects administrative sciences, economics, law, and medicine.