Publications
Publications
- June 2004
- HBS Case Collection
Medical Technology Industry and Japan (A), The
Abstract
In a five-year effort, the Health Industry Manufacturers Association (HIMA) tried to influence government health policy in Japan. In 1993, HIMA mobilized in response to fears the Japanese government was planning to target the U.S. medical devices industry. The case describes how HIMA leveraged outside pressure from the U.S. government to secure exemptions from new regulations, to push for improvements in the Japanese product-approvals process, and to avoid deep cuts in reimbursement prices for medical devices in Japan in 1994 and 1996. HIMA confronts new price-cutting pressures and realizes that its external pressure strategy was proving to be increasingly inadequate. A rewritten version of an earlier case.
Keywords
Health Care and Treatment; Policy; Globalized Markets and Industries; Government and Politics; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Japan; United States
Citation
Watkins, Michael D., and Terri Zavada. "Medical Technology Industry and Japan (A), The." Harvard Business School Case 904-018, June 2004.