Publications

01 Mar 2009
News

Model Patient

Rhenisch Rick Bern/Courtesy Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector Authority A community organizer during the 1960s, Madelyn Rhenisch was a pioneering advocate for better medical care for the people of rural upstate New York. More... View Details

Keywords: Garry Emmons; Health, Social Assistance

16 Sep 2024
News

Life Preserver

“There’s a massive gap between how many people get to benefit from a lifesaving organ transplant and how many truly need one,” says Sebastian Giwa (MBA 2009). He’s spent the last decade trying to change that. In the United States alone, scientists estimate between... View Details

24 Apr 2014
News

Saving lives through new vaccine technology

has several years of regulatory hurdles ahead, it is working in the interim with global health organizations to explore applying the technology to a wide range of vaccines. “Our goal is to lower the cost across the globe and make sure... View Details

October 2020 (Revised November 2023)
Case

COVID-19 Testing at Everlywell

By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang and Olivia Hull

In March 2020, as COVID-19 spreads rapidly across the U.S., Everlywell founder Julia Cheek considers how to respond as a small start-up specializing in at-home lab testing. After making dramatic budget cuts, she decides to pivot the organization to address the... View Details

01 Mar 2005
News

Better Care at Lower Cost

As the opening presenter at the two-day conference, sponsored by the HBS Health Industry Alumni Association, Christensen made the case for how disruptive innovation could give consumers access to simpler, less expensive, quality care.... View Details

Keywords: Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services; Health, Social Assistance

February 2000 (Revised April 2001)
Case

Boston Medical Group

By: Richard M.J. Bohmer and Bruce L. Hall

Describes the structure of a variable compensation plan for physicians implemented by a Massachusetts medical group practice. Examines issues such as balancing group and individual risk and selection of performance metrics (productivity and patient satisfaction). View Details

Keywords: Customer Satisfaction; Health Care and Treatment; Executive Compensation; Management Practices and Processes; Risk Management; Standards; Risk and Uncertainty; Health Industry

Find at Harvard

2012
Working Paper

Learning from Customers: Individual and Organizational Effects in Outsourced Radiological Services

By: Jonathan R. Clark, Robert S. Huckman and Bradley R. Staats

The ongoing fragmentation of work has resulted in a narrowing of tasks into smaller pieces that can be sent outside the organization and, in many instances, around the world. This trend is shifting the boundaries of organizations and leading to increased outsourcing.... View Details

Keywords: Experience and Expertise; Learning; Health Care and Treatment; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Knowledge Acquisition; Volume; Performance Productivity; Health Industry

SSRN

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October 2005 (Revised September 2006)
Case

DentalCorp

By: Richard G. Hamermesh and Ricardo Reisen de Pinho

DentalCorp is the fifth largest provider of dental insurance in Brazil and has tripled its sales in the past two years. Whether to expand to Chile or to continue expansion in Brazil is the major strategic choice facing the company at the end of 2004. View Details

Keywords: International Finance; Expansion; Entrepreneurship; Health Care and Treatment; Global Strategy; Health Industry; Health Industry; Brazil; Chile

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

January 2021
Supplement

mPharma (B)

By: Rembrand Koning, John D. Macomber, Pippa Tubman Armerding and Wale Lawal

mPharma pioneered electronic prescriptions in Ghana, and aimed to increase drug affordability and accessibility in Africa, but the company remained unprofitable. Following investor concerns about mPharma's business, CEO Gregory Rockson considered alternative business... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Health; Entrepreneurship; Business Model; Health Industry; Health Industry; Ghana

May 2009 (Revised October 2009)
Case

Newton-Wellesley Hospital

By: Richard M.J. Bohmer and Natalie Kindred

How will Newton-Wellesley Hospital (NWH) preserve its private practice tradition while remaining effective and competitive in a healthcare industry demanding increasing integration between physicians and hospitals? This is the decision facing Newton-Wellesley Hospital... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Profit; Health Care and Treatment; Growth and Development Strategy; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Structure; Competitive Strategy; Integration; Health Industry; Massachusetts

October 10, 2024
Article

Characteristics of Creative Individuals: An Umbrella Review Protocol

By: Alex Thabane, Tyler McKechnie, Phillip Staibano, Goran Calic, Colin Kruse, Jason W. Busse, Samee Parpia and Mohit Bhandari

The properties of creative products–novelty and usefulness–are generally agreed upon by researchers. Yet, consensus is lacking on which personal and environmental factors contribute to an individual’s creative potential, or to what extent. substantial research work has... View Details

Keywords: Creativity; Medical Specialties; Personal Characteristics; Health Industry; Canada

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1994
Article

Three-dimensional Finite Element Modeling of a Cervical Vertebra: An Investigation of Burst Fracture Mechanism

By: Kevin J. Bozic, J H Keyak, H B Skinner, H U Bueff and David Bradford

Finite element modeling was used to study the mechanical behavior of a cervical vertebra under axial compressive loading. A three-dimensional (3-D) finite element (FE) model of a mid-cervical vertebra using inhomogeneous material properties was generated from... View Details

Keywords: Performance Expectations; Strength and Weakness; Health; Mathematical Methods; Health Industry

January 2021
Case

Aster DM Healthcare: Budgeting for a Crisis

By: V.G. Narayanan and Amy Klopfenstein

In April 2020, Alisha Moopen, Deputy Managing Director of Aster DM Healthcare, a network of clinics, hospitals, and pharmacies in the Middle East and India, must create her company’s budget for the 2021 fiscal year in light of the onset of Covid-19. The pandemic had... View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Decisions; Forecasting and Prediction; Judgments; Decision Choices and Conditions; Cost vs Benefits; Budgets and Budgeting; Health Pandemics; Health Industry; Asia; India; United Arab Emirates; Dubai

Research Summary

Overview

Chu's research is focused on business and low income sectors, particularly in the use of commercial platforms to deliver what has traditionally been considered public responsibilities. In the last three decades, business models have emerged to meet the underserved... View Details

Keywords: Impact Investing; Microfinance; Base Of The Pyramid; Role Of Profit And Social Impact; Private Sector Development; Emerging Markets; Business Ventures; Health Care and Treatment; Management; Social Enterprise; Strategy; Health Industry; Health Industry; Health Industry; Latin America; North and Central America; Asia; Africa

April 1992 (Revised March 1993)
Case

Brigham and Women's Hospital in 1992, The

Brigham and Women's Hospital is a highly successful teaching hospital in 1992. However, the hospital sector is undergoing a major transition and the hospital faces uncertainty about changing demographic trends, new types of competitors, and technological and scientific... View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Change Management; Social Entrepreneurship; Decision Making; Health Care and Treatment; Business Strategy; Health Industry; Health Industry; Massachusetts

07 Sep 2021
News

Summer Fellowship Recipient is a Changemaker in Tanzania

alone do not account for these outcomes of the country’s public health system. There are also disparities in how effectively resources are allocated and managed, says Simon DeBere (MBA/MPA-ID 2022), a 2021 HBS Social Enterprise Summer... View Details

Keywords: April White

2009
Working Paper

Input Constraints and the Efficiency of Entry: Lessons from Cardiac Surgery

By: David M. Cutler, Robert S. Huckman and Jonathan T. Kolstad

Prior studies suggest that, with elastically supplied inputs, free entry may lead to an inefficiently high number of firms in equilibrium. Under input scarcity, however, the welfare loss from free entry is reduced. Further, free entry may increase use of high-quality... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Market Entry and Exit; Duopoly and Oligopoly; Government Legislation; Mathematical Methods; Health Industry; Pennsylvania

November 2001 (Revised September 2004)
Case

Evolution of Treatment, The: The Case of Diabetes

By: Richard M.J. Bohmer, Jeffrey D. Street and Laura Feldman

Scientific knowledge surrounding diabetes mellitus has grown over the last century to include its cause, treatment, and prevention strategies. However, the type and level of care that patients receive is suboptional. This case examines the forces in industry,... View Details

Keywords: Policy; Health Care and Treatment; Innovation and Management; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Management; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Health Industry