How Sweden Built One of the World’s Best Health Systems | Göran Henriks on Trust, Co-Production & Value-Based Care

Healthcare Reframed

In this episode of Healthcare Reframed, host Judson Howe talks with Göran Henriks, former Chief Executive for Learning & Innovation in Sweden’s Jönköping Region, about how Sweden built one of the most high-performing healthcare systems in the world.

Henriks shares actionable lessons for healthcare executives, policymakers, and clinicians on creating sustainable, value-based care models that deliver better outcomes at lower cost. You’ll hear how the Esther Project transformed care delivery through radical customization, how co-production empowered patients to manage their own dialysis, and why trust is the most valuable operational principle in healthcare.

From dismantling hospital CEO roles to designing horizontal leadership structures, Göran explains how Sweden’s system design aligns incentives, reduces burnout, and supports population health. He also gives candid advice for US healthcare leaders on addressing incentive misalignment, bankruptcy risk, and the moral injury caused by value disconnects in care delivery.

Chapters

00:00 Why Swedish Resilience Matters in Healthcare Leadership

07:44 From Psychologist and Coach to Transformational Health Leader

11:54 The Colon Cancer Case Study: Confronting Inconvenient Data

21:21 Inside Sweden’s Healthcare Model: Funding, Fairness, and Flexibility

31:04 Eliminating Hospital CEOs: How Horizontal Leadership Boosts Outcomes

38:26 The Esther Project: Radical Customization Through Patient Journeys

53:43 Trust as the Antidote to Burnout in an Anxiety Industry

59:00 Measuring What Matters: Years of Active Life After 65

1:09:20 Building Leadership Capacity: 550 Leaders, 5 Strategic Meetings a Year 1:13:41 Co-Production in Action: How Self-Dialysis Changed Everything

1:19:26 What US Healthcare Leaders Can Learn from Jönköping

1:25:25 The Ultimate Leverage Point: Honesty and Moral Alignment