Publications

October 2020
Case

Michael Phelps: 'It's Okay to Not Be Okay'

By: Boris Groysberg, Carin-Isabel Knoop and Michael Norris

In 2020, Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian of all time, with 28 medals in various swimming events, was now retired. As he looked back on his 20+ year athletic career, he considered what had gone into making him the greatest of all time—the highs and lows,... View Details

Keywords: Mental Health; Talent and Talent Management; Training; Health; Success; Performance Improvement; Personal Development and Career; Family and Family Relationships; Sports; Competition; Sports Industry; United States; Baltimore; Arizona; Sydney; Athens; Beijing; London

January 2018
Article

The Effect of Cost Sharing on an Employee Weight Loss Program: A Randomized Trial

By: Leslie K. John, Andrea Troxel, William Yancy, Joelle Y. Friedman, Jingsan Zhu, Lin Yang, Robert Galvin, Karen Miller-Kovach, Scott Halpern, George Loewenstein and Kevin Volpp

Purpose: We tested the effects of employer subsidies on employee enrollment, attendance, and weight loss in a nationally-available weight management program.
Design: A randomized trial tested the impact of employer subsidy: 100%; 80% 50% and a hybrid 50% subsidy... View Details

Keywords: Affordable Care Act (ACA); Subsidies; Weight Loss; Obesity; Incentives; Behavioral Economics; Motivation and Incentives; Behavior; Health Disorders; Health Care and Treatment; Compensation and Benefits; United States

Find at Harvard

01 Dec 2017
News

2017 in Health Care: Telemedicine Has Arrived

help achieve better access to care and a lower cost of care. And employers are embracing telemedicine as a way to provide employees convenient health care at a lower cost for... View Details

Keywords: Halle Tecco (MBA 2011), founder emeritus, Rock Health; angel investor; adjunct professor, Columbia Business School

May 2017
Supplement

Boston Children's Hospital Process Map Video

By: Robert S. Kaplan and Mary Witkowski

The 13 minute video simulates a discussion among orthopedic surgeons and cast room technicians about the processes and resources used when applying long leg casts for patients. The video should be used when teaching Boston Children’s Hospital (Abridged) case, #914-407,... View Details

Keywords: Activity Based Costing; Healthcare Costing; Process Maps; Activity Based Costing and Management; Health Care and Treatment

2010
Working Paper

Evaluating the Effects of Large-Scale Health Interventions in Developing Countries: The Zambian Malaria Initiative

By: Nava Ashraf, Gunther Fink and David N. Weil

Since 2003, Zambia has been engaged in a large-scale, centrally coordinated national anti-malaria campaign which has become a model in sub-Saharan Africa. This paper aims at quantifying the individual and macro level benefits of this campaign, which involved mass... View Details

Keywords: Cost vs Benefits; Developing Countries and Economies; Health Care and Treatment; Health Disorders; Performance Evaluation; Programs; Health Industry; Zambia

29 Jun 2015
HBS Case

Consumer-centered Health Care Depends on Accessible Medical Records

can be used in powerful ways, ideally leading to better patient care, lower health care costs and, ultimately, healthier patients. “Trust on the part of both the consumer and doctor is hugely important in... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Health; Health

Web

Health Care Curriculum - Institute For Strategy And Competitiveness

per unit of cost spent. The current structure, reimbursement, and measurement of health care delivery are misaligned with value. Significant improvements in value will require major strategic and... View Details

23 Jul 2021
News

The Cost of the Olympics’ ‘Runaway Arms Race’ and New Hope for Student Loan Borrowers in Bankruptcy

August 2016
Case

VMD Medical Imaging Center

By: Susanna Gallani and Eva Labro

VMD Medical Imaging Center, a local independent provider of medical imaging services, is facing some important challenges. Despite efficiency improvements and cost cutting initiatives carried out over the past few years, their profitability is shrinking; their prices... View Details

Keywords: Costing; Death Spiral; Transfer Pricing; Activity Based Costing and Management; Competitive Strategy; Medical Specialties; Health Industry

17 Apr 2018
Working Paper Summaries

Digital Innovation with High Costs of Entry: Evidence from Software-Driven Medical Devices

Keywords: by Cirrus Foroughi and Ariel Dora Stern; Health; Health

2019
Working Paper

The Impact of the General Data Protection Regulation on Internet Interconnection

By: Ran Zhuo, Bradley Huffaker, KC Claffy and Shane Greenstein

The Internet comprises thousands of independently operated networks, where bilaterally negotiated interconnection agreements determine the flow of data between networks. The European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) imposes strict restrictions on... View Details

Keywords: Personal Data; Privacy Regulation; GDPR; Interconnection Agreements; Internet and the Web; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; European Union

01 Sep 2008
News

In Africa, Porter Sees Lessons for Health Care

cost of care. Farmer said that he has learned from his work in very poor countries that “comprehensive rural health care must go beyond the purely clinical by also providing socioeconomic support. Nutrition,... View Details

Keywords: HIV/AIDS; Ambulatory Health Care Services; Ambulatory Health Care Services

September 2016 (Revised October 2018)
Case

Springfield Hospital

By: Susanna Gallani and Robert Kaplan

One of the key roles of costing systems is to support the evaluation of performance and facilitate appropriate resource allocations. Through participation in a comparative cost study, management at Springfield Hospital, known for its heavy focus on operational... View Details

Keywords: Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing; Variance Analysis; Activity Based Costing and Management; Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry

Web

Doubling Down on Women’s Health Innovation and Leveraging the Private Sector in a Post-Roe v. Wade Era - Blog: Health Supplement

right to determine if and when to have children. No matter what one’s personal or religious views are, the impact will be felt by all - health systems and payors bearing costs... View Details

August 1993
Article

Transaction Cost Theory: Inferences from Clinical Field Research on Downstream Vertical Integration

By: V. K. Rangan, E. R. Corey and F. V. Cespedes

Keywords: Theory; Health; Vertical Integration

Find at Harvard

Web

Health Plans - Institute For Strategy And Competitiveness

HBS ISC Health Care Health Care Value-Based Health Care Health Care Courses Fast Facts Value-Based Health Care... View Details

March 2021
Article

The Impact of the General Data Protection Regulation on Internet Interconnection

By: Ran Zhuo, Bradley Huffaker, KC Claffy and Shane Greenstein

The Internet comprises thousands of independently operated networks, where bilaterally negotiated interconnection agreements determine the flow of data between networks. The European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) imposes strict restrictions on... View Details

Keywords: Personal Data; Privacy Regulation; GDPR; Interconnection Agreements; Internet and the Web; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms

Forthcoming
Article

Valuing the Societal Impact of Medicines and Other Health Technologies: A User Guide to Current Best Practices

By: Jason Shafrin, Jaehong Kim, Joshua T. Cohen, Louis P. Garrison, Dana A. Goldman, Jalpa A. Doshi, Joshua Krieger, Darius N. Lakdawalla, Peter J. Neumann, Charles E. Phelps, Melanie D. Whittington and Richard Willke

This study argues that value assessment conducted from a societal perspective should rely on the Generalized Cost-Effectiveness Analysis (GCEA) framework proposed herein. Recently developed value assessment inventoriessuch as the Second Panel on Cost-Effectiveness’s... View Details

January 2019
Teaching Note

Pricing PatientPing

By: Frank V. Cespedes

Teaching Note for HBS No. 818-017. PatientPing sells a software platform that allows health care providers to receive real-time notifications (“pings”) when one of their patients is admitted to or discharged from a health-care facility. The platform facilitates... View Details

Keywords: Pricing; Health Tech; Health Technology; Sales Process; Sales Strategy; Price; Sales; Marketing Strategy; Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry; Health Industry; United States; Massachusetts