Publications

2022
Working Paper

Causal Inference During A Pandemic: Evidence on the Effectiveness of Nebulized Ibuprofen as an Unproven Treatment for COVID-19 in Argentina

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

Many medical decisions during the pandemic were made without the support of causal evidence obtained in clinical trials. We study the case of nebulized ibuprofen (NaIHS), a drug that was extensively used on COVID-19 patients in Argentina amidst wild claims about its... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19; Drug Treatment; Health Pandemics; Health Care and Treatment; Decision Making; Outcome or Result; Argentina

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16 Jun 2009
First Look

First Look: June 16

investment in the yet-to-be-formed liberalized and deregulated electricity market in Russia. Purchase this case: http://hbsp.harvard.edu/b01/en/common/item_detail.jhtml?id=709046 Global Health Partner:... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

October 2023
Case

Hey Jane: Delivering Abortion Pills to the Doorstep

By: Rembrand Koning, Geraldine Pena-Galea and Sarah Mehta

This case tells the story of Hey Jane, a telehealth clinic founded in 2020 that provides virtual medication abortion services to eligible patients in nine U.S. states. By January 2023, the company had served more than 20,000 patients and raised nearly $10 million in... View Details

Keywords: Operations; Business Startups; Health Care and Treatment; Growth and Development Strategy; Health Industry; Health Industry; United States

August 2002 (Revised August 2002)
Case

Raiser Senior Services--The Stratford (A)

By: H. Kent Bowen and Alison Berkley Wagonfeld

Focuses on modifying operations to increase profitability at an upscale senior care facility in California. Jennifer Raiser, president of Raiser Senior Services, opened the Stratford in 1992 as a high-end, continuing-care retirement community. Ten years later, the... View Details

Keywords: Cost Management; Profit; Saving; Health Care and Treatment; Age; Management Teams; Problems and Challenges; Ethics; Legal Liability; Business Growth and Maturation; Health Industry; Health Industry; California

27 Oct 2020
News

Hospital Merger Seeks to Create Regional Giant in the West

Emily R. McComb

Emily McComb is a Senior Lecturer in the Finance Unit at HBS, teaching "Finance 2" in the required curriculum of the MBA program, as well as a co-leader of the HBS Impact Investment Fund in the elective curriculum. Prior to joining the HBS faculty in 2017, Emily was... View Details

Keywords: health care; health care

05 Jun 2006
Research & Ideas

Using Competition to Reform Healthcare

Business Around Medical Conditions The starting point for developing strategy in any field is to define the relevant business or businesses in which an organization competes. Health care delivery is no... View Details

Keywords: by Michael E. Porter; Health

September 2019
Case

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: Shaping the Vaccine Manufacturing Ecosystem

By: Willy C. Shih

Vaccines for children has been a long-standing focus for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and its critical role in public health made its production an important economic and political issue. This case describes the Foundation's investment in a breakthrough vaccine... View Details

Keywords: Vaccine; Production; Supply Chain; Product; Biotechnology Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Belgium

Career Coach

Annette Rodriguez-Ferrer

Annette Rodriguez brings over 20 years of seasoned expertise in private equity, across business services, consumer services, and healthcare. She has dedicated her career to building teams and investing in and developing best-in-class... View Details

Keywords: Impact Investing; Impact Investing; Impact Investing; Impact Investing; Impact Investing; Impact Investing; Impact Investing; Impact Investing; Impact Investing; Impact Investing; Impact Investing; Impact Investing; Impact Investing; Impact Investing; Impact Investing; Impact Investing

Article

The Error at the Heart of Corporate Leadership

By: Joseph L. Bower and Lynn S. Paine

Agency theory, a new model of governance promulgated by academic economists in the 1970s, is behind the idea that corporate managers should make shareholder value their primary concern and that boards should ensure they do. The theory regards shareholders as owners of... View Details

Keywords: Agency Theory; Business and Shareholder Relations; Leadership; Corporate Governance

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December 2013
Article

Measuring the Value of Process Improvement Initiatives in a Preoperative Assessment Center using Time-driven Activity-based Costing

By: Katy E. French, Heidi W. Albright, John C. Frenzel, James R. Incalcaterra, Augustin C. Rubio, Jessica F. Jones and Thomas W. Feeley

Background: The value and impact of process improvement initiatives are difficult to quantify. We describe the use of time-driven activity-based costing(TDABC)in a clinical setting to quantify the value of process improvements in terms of cost, time and personnel... View Details

Keywords: Quality Improvement; Value Agenda; Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing; Accounting; Health; Measurement and Metrics; Value; Health Industry; North and Central America

October–December 2022
Article

How Psychological Safety and Feeling Heard Relate to Burnout and Adaptation Amid Uncertainty

By: Michaela J. Kerrissey, Tuna Cem Hayirli, Aditi Bhanja, Nicholas Stark, James Hardy and Christopher Peabody

Background: Psychological safety—the belief that it is safe to speak up—is vital amid uncertainty, but its relationship to feeling heard is not well understood.
Purpose: The aims of this study were (a) to measure feeling heard and (b) to assess... View Details

Keywords: Burnout; Crisis; Psychological Safety; Feeling Heard; Process Adaptation; Interpersonal Communication; Well-being; Health Care and Treatment; Adaptation

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2009
Working Paper

Broadening Focus: Spillovers, Complementarities and Specialization in the Hospital Industry

By: Jonathan R. Clark and Robert S. Huckman

The long-standing argument that focused operations outperform others stands in contrast to claims about the benefits of broader operational scope. The performance benefits of focus are typically attributed to reduced complexity, lower uncertainty, and the development... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Medical Specialties; Performance Capacity; Diversification; Health Industry

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Many blockbuster products and services that have redefined the global business landscape are built around platforms that tie together two distinct groups of users in a network. Examples include credit cards that link consumers and merchants; operating systems that... View Details

July 2020
Case

Mortgage Backed Securities and the Covid-19 Pandemic

By: Emil N. Siriwardane, Luis M. Viceira and Dean Xu

In April 2020, global financial markets were still reeling as the COVID-19 pandemic spread rapidly across the world. Global equity markets had initially fallen by 30% in response to the pandemic, and high-yield credit markets had dropped by nearly 20%. In contrast,... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19; Mortgage-backed Securities; Health Pandemics; Financial Markets; Assets; Resource Allocation; Financial Instruments; Decision Making

Martin Sinozich is a Senior Lecturer in the Entrepreneurial Management Unit at Harvard Business School, where he teaches in both MBA and Executive Education programs. For first-year MBAs, Martin teaches in Field Global Immersion, a required course that... View Details

August 2022
Supplement

NOW PT (B): Should We Invest?

By: George A. Riedel, Amy Klopfenstein and Mel Martin

This (B) case examines the results of the HBS Impact Investment Fund student team’s diligence on Neurologic Optimal Wellness Physical Therapy (NOW PT). After examining Springfield’s demographics, anticipated PT demand, local competition, and NOW PT’s financial... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Social Entrepreneurship; Finance; Investment; Health; Health Care and Treatment; Medical Specialties; Buildings and Facilities; Health Industry; Health Industry; North and Central America; United States; Massachusetts

August 2010 (Revised February 2014)
Case

Vitalia Franchise

By: Regina E. Herzlinger and Beatriz Munoz-Seca

Cathy Hoffmann has rapidly grown her novel facilities for day care therapy for elders with mild cognitive and physical problems. But she needs to decide whether to franchise or own the next expansion. View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Health Care and Treatment; Growth and Development Strategy; Ownership Stake; Franchise Ownership; Expansion; Health Industry; Spain

May 2010
Article

Managing the New Primary Care: The New Skills That Will Be Needed

By: Richard Bohmer

Developing new models of primary care will demand a level of managerial expertise that few of today's primary care physicians possess. Yet medical schools continue to focus on the basic sciences, to the exclusion of such managerial topics as running effective teams.... View Details

Keywords: Higher Education; Health Care and Treatment; Management Skills; Managerial Roles; Service Delivery; Practice; Health Industry