Healthcare systems don’t fail for just one reason—they evolve through economics, design, leadership, and the people willing to challenge the status quo. In this curated collection of TEDMED Talks, four speakers explore how healthcare systems are built, why they break down, and what it takes to transform them.

Health economist Irene Papanicolas examines why the United States spends far more on healthcare than other high-income nations, revealing how pricing opacity, administrative complexity, and systemic incentives quietly drive costs across the system. Social entrepreneur Rebecca Onie approaches the problem from another angle, asking whether we can fundamentally redesign healthcare’s “DNA” by connecting clinical care with the social conditions that shape health.

Global humanitarian and NBA legend Dikembe Mutombo offers a powerful example of system change in action, sharing how he helped build a modern hospital in the Democratic Republic of Congo to expand access to care in his homeland. And physician-comedian Zubin Damania uses satire and sharp insight to expose the cultural and structural dysfunctions of American medicine—arguing that many of healthcare’s deepest problems are baked into the systems clinicians work within.

Together, these Talks explore the forces that shape healthcare—from economics and policy to infrastructure, culture, and leadership—and challenge us to rethink what a better system could look like.