Publications

February 24, 2022
Article

Want to Prevent the Next Hospital Bed Crisis? Enlist the SEC

By: Regina E. Herzlinger and Richard Boxer

During the initial phases of the COVID-19 pandemic, many U.S. hospitals could not provide enough beds to meet demand. Solving the problem of inadequate capacity is of utmost importance in the “new normal,” which requires recognizing the ongoing need for hospital-based... View Details

Keywords: COVID; COVID-19 Pandemic; Hospital Capacity; SEC Regulation; Health Pandemics; Crisis Management; Performance Capacity; Planning

Read Now

May 25, 2016
Comment

How Consumers and Businesses are Reshaping Public Health

By: John A. Quelch

Healthcare and education are two issues in which citizens around the world, rich and poor, are passionately interested. It has long been appreciated that the way that a society treats its youngest and oldest members says much about its moral maturity. Economic... View Details

Read Now

Article

Incidence and Preventability of Adverse Drug Events in the Nursing Home Setting

By: J. H. Gurwitz, T. S. Field, J. Avorn, D. McCormick, S. Jain, M. Eckler, M. Benser, A. Edmondson and D. W. Bates

Keywords: Health; Health Industry

Find at Harvard

23 Nov 2009
Research & Ideas

Management’s Role in Reforming Health Care

learning does not happen naturally. Given the organization's key role in reliably creating cures and preventing errors, the question is not whether to create organizations capable of providing patient relief, but how. Performance... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Health

13 Jul 2009
Research & Ideas

Diagnosing the Public Health Care Alternative

As health insurance reform is hotly debated in Washington, DC, what strategies should be central for the benefit of patients' health? HBS faculty with expertise in business administration, economic development, and operations strategy... View Details

Keywords: by Staff; Health

16 Jul 2008
Op-Ed

What Should Employers Do about Health Care?

monitoring, and care for routine health issues. On-site physical therapists offer coaching to prevent injury and services to speed recovery. On-site diabetes educators work with groups of employees to engage... View Details

Keywords: by Michael E. Porter, Elizabeth O. Teisberg & Scott Wallace; Health

July 2015
Background Note

The State of U.S. Public Health: Challenges and Trends

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter, Howard Koh and Pamela Yatsko

The World Health Organization defines health as "a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity." For many Americans, the World Health Organization's definition of true health seems unattainable, given... View Details

Keywords: Public Health; Public Sector; Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry; United States

April 2009 (Revised January 2015)
Case

Dr. Benjamin Hooks and Children's Health Forum

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Charles J. Ogletree Jr, Howard Koh, Abbye Atkinson, Carmel Salhi and Aldo Sesia

"Dr. Benjamin Hooks and Children's Health Forum" charts the many different career paths of Hooks, a civil rights activist and pioneer. Hooks' positions ranged from lawyer, judge, preacher, entrepreneur to the first African American commissioner of the Federal... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Health Care and Treatment; Leadership; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Personal Development and Career; Nonprofit Organizations; Social Issues

January 2014
Teaching Note

Dr. Benjamin Hooks and Children's Health Forum

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Ai-Ling Malone

The case includes law, business, and public health perspectives on an African American leader's social entrepreneurship and leadership in other social movements. Later in his life, Dr. Benjamin Hooks championed the eradication of lead poisoning. Prior to that Hooks... View Details

Keywords: Leading Change; Health Disorders; Social Entrepreneurship; Personal Development and Career; Social Issues; United States

07 Mar 2000
Research & Ideas

Putting Health Care Consumers in the Driver’s Seat

A mid-November conference on consumer-driven health care attracted nearly two hundred providers of health-care services, technology, and information; government professionals; and insurance executives to the HBS campus for a two-day... View Details

Keywords: by Staff; Health

08 Apr 2009
Research & Ideas

Clayton Christensen on Disrupting Health Care

supports preventive care. Q: So a system where health providers offer comprehensive care for a fixed fee is the disruptive innovation that will bring down costs? A: It's a key component, but one reason why... View Details

Keywords: by Deborah Blagg; Health

20 May 2016
Op-Ed

World Health Organization Lacks Leadership to Combat Pandemics

When it comes to emergency preparedness for pandemics, the World Health Organization is falling short. It has not provided prompt and clear leadership to the world in combating either the Ebola or Zika viruses. Its leadership has been low... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch; Health

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

25 May 2016
Research & Ideas

How Consumers and Businesses are Reshaping Public Health

and nutrition and readiness to learn in schools is also well established. Forthcoming revisions to the Millennium Development Goals are expected to again highlight the importance of disease prevention and View Details

Keywords: by John A. Quelch; Health

22 May 2020
In Practice

Post-COVID Health Care: More Screens, Less Red Tape?

of (systemic) invention. The opportunity, therefore, is to start reinventing the future health care delivery system that will sustainably deliver prevention and sick care in a post-COVID world. Amy C.... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost

September 2006 (Revised December 2007)
Case

Go Red For Women: Raising Heart Health Awareness

By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Marie Bell

In 2003, the $654 million American Heart Association (AHA) approached Cone, Inc. (a brand and communications agency) to develop a corporate sponsorship strategy that would raise $75 million over three years. Within 12 months, the AHA launched the highly successful Go... View Details

Keywords: Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Marketing Communications; Social Marketing; Nonprofit Organizations; Social and Collaborative Networks

06 Apr 2015
Research & Ideas

After Germanwings, More Attention Needed on Employee Mental Health

mental illness are caught early and-if they do not respond to treatment-then removing those employees who could do others harm. For the majority of employers, however, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Diagnosing mental... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Health; Health

January 2, 2020
Article

Medicare for All or Public Option: Can Either Heal Health Care?

By: Regina E. Herzlinger and James Wallace

The United States has serious health care problems: More than 27 million uninsured people, costs that are growing faster than income, and a staggering $37 trillion of unfunded liabilities in the Medicare program. Perhaps most alarming: The US ranks lowest among... View Details

Keywords: Healthcare; Public Option; Medicare; Health Care and Treatment; Insurance; Cost Management; Problems and Challenges; United States