#25 Erkki Karo: Could Creative Destruction Happen in Healthcare?

In this episode, Priit Kruus talks with Professor Erkki Karo, Director of TalTech’s Ragnar Nurkse Department of Innovation and Governance. The discussion was inspired by this year’s Nobel Prize in Economics, awarded for research on creative destruction - Schumpeter’s innovation theory widely taught and applied at Nurkse.

Priit and Erkki ask: Is creative destruction needed, happening, or even possible in healthcare? They explore how change unfolds in a complex and tightly regulated system. Erkki explains how innovation takes place at different levels and through many interacting actors.

They discuss why timing and framing are crucial for reform. Regulation and incentives can both enable and hinder transformation. The conversation concludes with reflections on why healthcare is so hard to change, how measuring real outcomes remains a challenge, and why payment models must evolve to strengthen primary care and value-based innovation.