Publications

March 2010 (Revised October 2011)
Case

Highland District County Hospital: Gastroenterology Care in Sweden

By: Michael E. Porter, Jennifer F Baron and Martin Rejler

Sweden's Highland District County Hospital, similar to a community hospital in the US, undertook a major restructuring to integrate care delivery for medical conditions served by the Department of Medicine. Each subspecialty within the Department would form a single,... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Sweden

Article

Medicine's Continuous Improvement Imperative

By: Robert S. Huckman and Ananth Raman

Maintaining quality and spurring innovation have long been central objectives of the US health care system. Like other health care professionals, physicians are challenged to minimize the likelihood of errors that could harm patients while simultaneously making efforts... View Details

Keywords: Medicine; Continuous Improvement; Toyota Production System; Alcoa; Health Care and Treatment; Performance Improvement; Health Industry

29 Oct 2020
Research & Ideas

The COVID Gender Gap: Why Fewer Women Are Dying

According to a survey of citizens in eight countries, women are much more likely than men to view COVID-19 as a severe health problem. They are also more willing to wear face masks and follow other public... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Health

October 2007 (Revised May 2009)
Case

Offering the Right Service in the Right Place: Growing Orthopedics at the Brigham and Women's/Faulkner (BW/F) Hospitals

By: V.G. Narayanan, Michael G. Wilson and Rachel Gordon

After the merger of two local hospitals, hospital leaders much decide how to reorganize services to take advantage of newly created efficiencies. Focuses on the Orthopedics department at one of the hospitals. View Details

Keywords: Cost Accounting; Mergers and Acquisitions; Cost vs Benefits; Service Operations; Organizational Structure; Performance Efficiency; Competitive Advantage; Health Industry

17 Jan 2023
Book

Good Companies Commit Crimes, But Great Leaders Can Prevent Them

Tsao, both of whom held senior positions in the US Department of Justice’s criminal division and now are Harvard Law School lecturers. It explores the topics through cases such as Wells Fargo’s creation of... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert

04 Aug 2024
News

How Turning Habits Into Rituals Can Help You At Home, At Work, And When You’re Anxious | Michael Norton

03 Mar 2020
News

Welcome to Walmart. Your doctor will see you now

Teaching

Overview

By: Regina E. Herzlinger

Course Requirements

Students are required to prepare a business plan, which employs the framework of this course, to explore an entrepreneurial opportunity in health care, and to evaluate their classmates' plans.

Career Focus

For... View Details

01 Mar 2013
News

A Healthy Profit

Article

Reimagining the Balanced Scorecard for the ESG Era

By: Robert S. Kaplan and David McMillan

Companies are increasingly aware that their customers and society in general expect businesses to adopt and work towards social and environmental objectives as well as the traditional financial ones. This involves not only re-evaluating firms’ models but re-imagining... View Details

Keywords: ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) Performance; Business Ecosystems; Balanced Scorecard; Adaptation; Business Model; Business and Stakeholder Relations

Register to Read

2024
Article

Beyond the 510(k): The Regulation of Novel Moderate-Risk Medical Devices, Intellectual Property Considerations, and Innovation Incentives in the FDA’s De Novo Pathway

By: Mateo Aboy, Cristina Crespo and Ariel Stern

Moderate-risk medical devices constitute 99% of those that have been regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) since it gained authority to regulate medical technology nearly five decades ago. This article presents an analysis of the interaction between... View Details

Keywords: Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Health Care and Treatment; Technology Adoption; Technological Innovation; Safety; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; United States

February 2024
Article

An Economic Framework for Vaccine Prioritization

By: Mohammad Akbarpour, Eric Budish, Piotr Dworczak and Scott Duke Kominers

We propose an economic framework for determining the optimal allocation of a scarce supply of vaccines that become gradually available during a public health crisis, such as the Covid-19 pandemic. Agents differ in observable and unobservable characteristics, and the... View Details

Keywords: Vaccine; Fairness; Public Finance; Public Goods; Allocation Problems; Allocative Efficiency; Allocation Rules; Social Welfare; Pandemics; Inequality; COVID-19; COVID-19 Pandemic; Public Sector; Resource Allocation; Market Design; Marketplace Matching; Public Administration Industry

SSRN

May 2010
Teaching Note

Offering the Right Service in the Right Place: Growing Orthopedics at the Brigham and Women's/Faulkner (BW/F) Hospitals (TN)

By: V.G. Narayanan and Lisa Brem

Teaching Note for [108016]. View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Performance Efficiency; Decisions; Competitive Advantage; Service Delivery; Health Industry

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

October 17, 2022
Article

Relational Diversity in Social Portfolios Predicts Well-Being

By: Hanne K. Collins, Serena F. Hagerty, Jordi Quoidbach, Michael I. Norton and Alison Wood Brooks

We document a link between the relational diversity of one’s social portfolio—the richness and evenness of relationship types across one’s social interactions—and well-being. Across four distinct samples, respondents from the United States who completed a preregistered... View Details

Keywords: Social Interaction; Social Engagement; Well-being; Happiness; Social and Collaborative Networks; Family and Family Relationships

August 2020 (Revised January 2022)
Case

1928 Diagnostics: Fighting Antibiotics Resistance

By: Ariel D. Stern and Daniela Beyersdorfer

In 2019, the co-founders of the Swedish medical start-up 1928 Diagnostics, CEO Dr. Kristina Lagerstedt and COO Dr. Susanne Staaf, had to pick the right business model to commercialize their novel technology to hospitals and health care providers. Developed in... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Entrepreneurship; Leadership; Science-Based Business; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; Information Technology; Digital Platforms; Health Disorders; Market Entry and Exit; Value Creation; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Health Industry; Health Industry; Health Industry; Europe; Sweden

August 2006 (Revised February 2021)
Case

Anthem, Inc.

By: Regina E. Herzlinger

Describes the U.S. Health Care industry and WellPoint's background, market growth strategies, and potential as an investment option. View Details

Keywords: Investment; Growth and Development Strategy; Health; Industry Structures; Organizational Design; Health Industry; United States