Publications

March 2015 (Revised December 2016)
Case

American Well: The DTC Decision

By: Elie Ofek and Natalie Kindred

In late 2013, telehealth company American Well, which developed a digital platform that allowed patients to conduct online medical consultations with physicians, is considering pursuing a direct-to-consumer (DTC) strategy. Founded in 2006, American Well had, to date,... View Details

31 Jul 2014
Research & Ideas

A Scholarly Crowd Explores Crowdsourcing

fail miserably," HBS Associate Professor Karim Lakhani, who helped organize the project, told a roomful of academic experts on innovation this week. In fact, the effort was so successful, Christensen—known for his work on disruptive... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

26 Mar 2014
Research & Ideas

How Electronic Patient Records Can Slow Doctor Productivity

care providers who demonstrate "meaningful use" of digital records. The legislation came from the belief that EHRs used in certain ways—such as medication order entry that would alert a clinician about drug-to-drug interactions—could... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Health

February 2006 (Revised August 2006)
Case

deCODE Genetics: Hunting for Genes to Develop Drugs

By: Debora L. Spar

In 1996, Kari Stefansson launched a new kind of biotechnology company and a whole new way of attacking diseases. Based in Iceland, his firm, deCODE Genetics, plans to identify the individual genetic markers that lead to society's most prevalent diseases. To do so, it... View Details

Keywords: Information; Innovation Strategy; Genetics; Ethics; Health Disorders; Biotechnology Industry; Iceland

03 Apr 2025
HBS Seminar

Ziad Obermeyer, UC Berkeley School of Public Health

December 2002 (Revised February 2003)
Case

Mount Auburn Hospital: Physician Order Entry

Mount Auburn Hospital is preparing to introduce a physician order entry (POE) system throughout the hospital, starting with the labor and delivery ward. POE systems replace paper-based and oral medication ordering processes with an information system; the physician... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Service Delivery; Information Technology; Health Care and Treatment; Innovation and Invention; Health Industry

August 2016 (Revised August 2016)
Teaching Note

Intrapreneurship at DaVita Healthcare Partners

By: Joseph B. Fuller and Matthew Preble

DaVita Healthcare Partners Inc. (DaVita) is one of the U.S.'s leading dialysis providers, a process whereby persons with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) are connected to a machine that performs the functions of a healthy kidney. Kent Thiry, DaVita's CEO, has expanded... View Details

Keywords: Intrapreneurship; Entrepreneurial Organizations; Startup Management; Startup; Strategic Positioning; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Corporate Strategy; Business Startups; Strategic Planning; Competitive Strategy; Health Industry; United States

June 1983 (Revised November 2001)
Case

EMI and the CT Scanner (A)

By: Christopher A. Bartlett

Describes the development of the first CT Scanner by EMI, a company new to the medical industry, and EMI's entry into the U.S. market. The company's early success is threatened by the entry of a dozen competitors (some very large and experienced), by government... View Details

Keywords: Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Technological Innovation; Market Entry and Exit; Industry Structures; Product Development; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

25 Feb 2025
Blog Post

Making a broader impact with multiple disciplines: Santosh Iyer (MBA 2020)

experience sparked my lifelong passion for innovation and led me to create Moonshot, a platform that gives high school students hands-on exposure to medical device design. The Rock Summer Fellowship and... View Details

January 2017
Supplement

Intrapreneurship at DaVita HealthCare Partners: Cash Flow Tool

By: Joseph B. Fuller and Christopher Payton

DaVita Healthcare Partners Inc. (DaVita) is one of the U.S.'s leading dialysis providers, a process whereby persons with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) are connected to a machine that performs the functions of a healthy kidney. Kent Thiry, DaVita's CEO, has expanded... View Details

Keywords: Intrapreneurship; Entrepreneurial Organizations; Startup Management; Startup; Strategic Positioning; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Corporate Strategy; Business Startups; Strategic Planning; Competitive Strategy; Health Industry; United States

20 Nov 2014
Video

Health Care Acceleration Challenge Finalists

December 2008 (Revised April 2010)
Case

Proteus Biomedical: Making Pigs Fly

By: Richard G. Hamermesh, Lauren Barley and Ginger Graham

Proteus is a healthcare start-up that has developed technology to embed electronics for computing and sensing in existing medical devices and drugs. The technology could potentially change the basis of competition in the pharmaceutical industry. The company is... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Technological Innovation; Rights; Negotiation Deal; Business Strategy; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

January 2016 (Revised July 2018)
Case

Cyberdyne: A Leap to the Future

By: Doug J. Chung and Mayuka Yamazaki

Cyberdyne Inc. was a Japanese technology venture that wanted to commercialize a hybrid assistive limb (HAL). HAL was a robotic exoskeleton system for people who had difficulty walking due to nervous system disabilities resulting from stroke, spinal cord injury (SCI),... View Details

Keywords: Go-to-market Strategy; Pricing; Sales Channel; Technological Innovation; Marketing; Sales; Distribution; Strategy; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

03 Jul 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, July 3, 2018

link: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=54665 forthcoming R&D Management An Exploratory Study of Product Development in Emerging Economies: Evidence from Medical Device Testing in India By: Gupta, Budhaditya, and Stefan... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

June 1983 (Revised March 1985)
Supplement

EMI and the CT Scanner (B)

By: Christopher A. Bartlett

Describes the development of the first CT Scanner by EMI, a company new to the medical industry, and EMI's entry into the U.S. market. The company's early success is threatened by the entry of a dozen competitors (some very large and experienced), by government... View Details

Keywords: Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Technological Innovation; Market Entry and Exit; Industry Structures; Product Development; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

April 2004 (Revised June 2004)
Case

Entrepreneurship Goes Global: ResMed's Gamble

By: Christopher A. Bartlett, Andrew N. McLean and Meg Glinska

On the basis of its innovative medical device for treating sleep apnea, CEO Peter Farrell has made Australian-born ResMed a successful global company. But the company is struggling to implement a strategy to expand the device from its focused core market to a much... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Globalization; Innovation and Management; Management; Marketing Channels; Production; Expansion; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

24 Jul 2007
First Look

First Look: July 24, 2007

generated by the primary product to improve the process efficiency of the by-product. We also examine the market structure where two firms practice by-product synergy, as well as conditions under which the by-product becomes the primary product. View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

May 2015 (Revised September 2015)
Case

Philips Healthcare: Marketing the HealthSuite Digital Platform

By: John A. Quelch and Margaret L. Rodriguez

In June 2014, leading healthcare and consumer technology company, Royal Philips ("Philips"), announced its HealthSuite Digital Platform to house healthcare data and enable applications used by physicians and patients. Philips had strong equity in the healthcare... View Details

Keywords: Health; Healthcare; Digital; Platform; Ecosystem; Health Care and Treatment; Technological Innovation; Information Technology; Product Development; Applications and Software; Digital Platforms; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Netherlands; United States