Publications

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January–February 2021
Article

Food and Drug Administration Guidance Documents and New Medical Devices: The Case of Breast Prostheses

By: Rachel E. Weitzman, Ariel Dora Stern and Daniel B. Kramer

As pressure mounts on the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to speed its review process for novel devices, and budgetary pressures further strain its resources, the critical role of guidance documents in assuring consistent, rigorous, and scientifically grounded... View Details

Keywords: Medical Devices; FDA; Health Care and Treatment; Government Administration; Information; Standards

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October 1998 (Revised April 2000)
Background Note

Complexity and Error in Medicine

By: Richard M.J. Bohmer

Reviews the issues underlying the rate of error in medical practice and discusses the range of potential management interventions to decrease the risk of error. View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Management Practices and Processes; Risk and Uncertainty; Complexity

Educators

05 Jul 2006
First Look

First Look: July 5, 2006

MaterialsAncora: A Private University in the Health Care of the Poor 306-088 Project Ancora signals the entry of the private sector into primary healthcare for Chile's poor. On a commercial basis, it seeks... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

19 Jan 2022
In Practice

7 Trends to Watch in 2022

As 2022 gets underway we asked our faculty to highlight some trends worth watching in the coming year. Ariel Stern: A new future for digital health care While 2020 and 2021 were years of rapid innovation and deployment of new health care technologies and delivery... View Details

Keywords: by HBS News

14 Jun 2016
First Look

June 14, 2016

challenging work environments. This article focuses on two such contexts—health care and education. The authors theorize differences in psychological safety based on work type, hierarchical status, and leadership effectiveness. Consistent... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

2023
Working Paper

The Political Economy of a 'Miracle Cure': The Case of Nebulized Ibuprofen and Its Diffusion in Argentina

By: Sebastian Calónico, Rafael Di Tella and Juan Cruz Lopez Del Valle

We document the diffusion of nebulized ibuprofen in Argentina as a treatment for COVID-19. As the pandemic spread, this clinically unsupported drug reached thousands of patients, even some seriously ill, despite warnings by the regulator and medical societies. Detailed... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19; Health Care and Treatment; Health Pandemics; Adoption; Behavior; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Learning

Register to Read

28 Jan 2013
Research & Ideas

Helping Yelp Create More Accurate Reviews

elite reviewer more likely to post a positive review, too—or a negative one. Of course, some reviewers care more about their reputation on Yelp than others; while others may prefer to never deviate from their prior reviews. How product... View Details

Keywords: by Kim Girard; Food & Beverage

11 Dec 2020
Research & Ideas

Economic Jitters Push Pandemic Job Seekers to Big Companies, Not Startups

School, who coauthored the study. “[It] means not only that the pool of potential human capital for startup companies began declining when COVID started, but also that the quality of the pool has deteriorated,” he says. “The incumbent... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

February 2008 (Revised August 2014)
Case

MedVal Ventures

By: Regina E. Herzlinger

Is medical travel a viable business opportunity? A group of MBA students consider the pros and cons of starting a business that would send people from the U.S. to India for elective non-emergency surgeries. View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Cost Management; Globalized Markets and Industries; Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry; Health Industry; India; United States

Educators

December 2017
Article

Overall Cost Comparison of Gastrointestinal Endoscopic Procedures with Endoscopist- or Anesthesia-Supported Sedation by Activity-Based Costing Techniques

By: Richard A. Helmers, James A. Dilling, Christopher R. Chaffee, Mark V. Larson, Bradly J. Narr, Derek A. Haas and Robert S. Kaplan

Endoscopic/Colonoscopic procedures are done either with gastroenterologist-administered conscious sedation or with anesthesia-administered sedation with propofol. Anesthesia-administered sedation has medical and patient benefits but is more expensive to administer. We... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Cost; Activity Based Costing and Management

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January 2014
Supplement

Fred Khosravi and AccessClosure (C)

By: Richard Hamermesh and Lauren Barley

On September 11, 2013, the three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit denied St. Jude's request to rehear an appeal on the "double patenting" ruling for the '439 patent. Further, it removed the injunction threat that was hanging over the... View Details

Keywords: Medical Devices; Vascular Closure Device; Patent Litigation; Patenting; Biomedical Research; Biotechnology; Biotech; Technological Innovation; Patents; Health Care and Treatment; Biotechnology Industry; United States

October 2013 (Revised January 2014)
Supplement

Fred Khosravi and AccessClosure (B)

By: Richard G. Hamermesh and Lauren Barley

It was January 2013, and Fred Khosravi, chairman of the board of AccessClosure Inc., wondered what the new year had in store for him and AccessClosure, the company he founded in late 2002. Khosravi was cautiously optimistic—the Mountain View, California-based medical... View Details

Keywords: Medical Devices; Vascular Closure Device; Patent Litigation; Patenting; Biomedical Research; Biotechnology; Biotech; Technological Innovation; Patents; Health Care and Treatment; Biotechnology Industry; United States; California

April 2011 (Revised October 2011)
Teaching Note

U.S. Healthcare Reform: International Perspectives (TN)

By: Arthur A. Daemmrich and Elia Cameron

Teaching Note for #710-040 and 711-103. View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; United States

July 2009
Teaching Note

The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis (TN)

By: Robert Steven Kaplan, Christopher Marquis and Ben Creo

Teaching Note for [408003]. View Details

Keywords: Nonprofit Organizations; Research; Health Care and Treatment; Medical Specialties; Financing and Loans; Leadership; Strategy; Problems and Challenges; Health Testing and Trials; Miami

February 1985
Background Note

Note on the Boston Area Teaching Hospitals

By: Joseph L. Bower

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Boston

23 Jan 2012
Research & Ideas

Break Your Addiction to Service Heroes

that there are a lot of heroic people in service organizations who feel compelled to be the best at everything. That's particularly evident in mission-driven and health care organizations, where managers... View Details

Keywords: by Deborah Blagg; Service

March 2014
Teaching Note

Uptake of Rapid Diagnostic Tests: A Development Challenge

By: Nava Ashraf, Andrew Boozary and Kristin Johnson

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Health Pandemics; Technology; Health Care and Treatment; Policy; Behavior; Prejudice and Bias; Zambia

October 2020
Article

Task Selection and Workload: A Focus on Completing Easy Tasks Hurts Long-Term Performance

By: Diwas S. KC, Bradley R. Staats, Maryam Kouchaki and Francesca Gino

How individuals manage, organize, and complete their tasks is central to operations management. Recent research in operations focuses on how under conditions of increasing workload individuals can decrease their service time, up to a point, in order to complete work... View Details

Keywords: Healthcare; Knowledge Work; Discretion; Workload; Employees; Health Care and Treatment; Decision Making; Performance Effectiveness; Performance Productivity