Publications

Article

Applying KISS to Healthcare Information Technology

By: Regina E. Herzlinger, Margo Seltzer and Mark Gaynor

Current public and private healthcare information technology initiatives have failed to achieve secure integration among providers. Applying the "keep it simple, stupid" principle offers the key guidance for solving this problem. View Details

Keywords: Technology; Health Care; Public Health; Information Technology Industry; Computer Networks; Computer Services Industries; Software; Hardware; Medical Services; Health Care and Treatment; Information Technology; Applications and Software; Information Infrastructure; Standards; Health Industry; Technology Industry; United States

Find at Harvard

Read Now

2015
Other Teaching and Training Material

Innovating in Healthcare

By: Regina E. Herzlinger, Margo I. Seltzer and Kevin Schulman

With over 71,000 past enrollees, Innovating in Healthcare investigates the issues of health care spending, quality, and access that continue to plague America and global nations alike. With U.S. health care costs trending toward $4 trillion in 2020, the need to... View Details

Keywords: edX; Healthcare; Health Care and Treatment; Innovation and Invention; Business Model

February 2021 (Revised June 2021)
Case

Brainlab: Imaging a MedTech Future

By: Regina E. Herzlinger, Gregory P. Licholai and Federica Gabrieli

Can Brainlab, a privately held firm, compete with giants like Medtronic and Amazon in delivering the Digital Operating Room of the future? The CEO is pondering solutions for secure exchange of medical information, pricing a new robotic imaging device, and reorganizing... View Details

December 2009 (Revised March 2025)
Case

Phreesia: The Patient Intake Company

By: Regina E. Herzlinger, Sunaina Yarlagadda and Brian L. Walker

How should the co-founders of an organization that provides patient sign-in and billing services scale their company after five years of successfully targeting small private physician practices? Phreesia had deployed a direct mail and sales force strategy that resulted... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Social Entrepreneurship; Revenue; Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry

03 Jul 2012
Research & Ideas

HBS Faculty on Supreme Court Health Care Ruling

access and watch as people get sicker and the country's financial condition deteriorates. Or mount a massive healthy living campaign by focusing on prevention, wellness, and personal responsibility. In my view the choice is clear, and the time to act is long overdue.... View Details

Keywords: Re: Multiple Faculty; Health

February 2017 (Revised February 2021)
Case

Hebrew SeniorLife: Next Steps

By: Regina E. Herzlinger, Carin-Isabel Knoop and Olivia Hull

The CEO of Hebrew SeniorLife is contemplating how to scale his highly successful but asset-intensive continuing care retirement community for elders. Among the strategies he is considering is an expansion to China; virtual web-based care; providing continuing care in... View Details

Keywords: Continuing Care; Nursing Home; Rehabilitation; Assisted Living; Elder Care; Entrepreneurial Management; Health Care and Treatment; Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; Health Industry; United States

September 2015 (Revised February 2023)
Case

Emdeon's Acquisition of Change Healthcare: Innovating Transparency Solutions for Health Care Consumers

By: Regina E. Herzlinger, Jeet Guram and Aanchal Raj

Case describes acquisition of Change Healthcare, which provides health care cost and quality information, by Emdeon, a health information exchange, and discusses health care transparency. Emdeon is a billion-dollar company that has grown through acquisitions; at its... View Details

Keywords: Healthcare; Healthcare Industry; Healthcare Innovation; Health Care and Treatment; Acquisition; Integration; Analytics and Data Science; Mergers and Acquisitions; Competitive Strategy; Health Industry; United States

December 2014 (Revised August 2015)
Case

Improving Melanoma Screening: MELA Sciences

By: Regina E. Herzlinger, Kevin Schulman and Frédéric Dijols

MELA is a start-up medical device company looking to develop a novel technology to help physicians diagnose a deadly skin cancer, melanoma. The case reviews the FDA medical device development process, the development path pursued by MELA, and the regulatory and... View Details

Keywords: Healthcare Industry; Health Care; Health; Health Care and Treatment; Health Testing and Trials; Health Industry; United States

July 2002 (Revised August 2014)
Case

WellSpace Treatment Centers for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (A)

By: Regina E. Herzlinger, Jun HuangPu and Bing Lin

How should WellSpace, a venture capital-backed purveyor of alternative health services, expand? Although it was nearing breakeven in its first location, the right business model remained unclear. View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Health Care and Treatment; Innovation and Invention; Service Delivery; Health Industry

May 2018 (Revised October 2020)
Supplement

La Ribera Health Department (B): Epilogue

By: Regina E. Herzlinger, Emer Moloney and Daniela Beyersdorfer

The La Ribera case studies depict an innovative low cost/high quality privately financed hospital model struggling to achieve alignment with the Six Factors. It is reimbursed by the public sector in a Spanish environment whose Consumers, Structure, and Public Policy... View Details

Keywords: Trends And Opportunities; Government; Government Programs; Acquisition; Business Model; Business Plan; Trends; Opportunities; Government and Politics; Programs; Health Care and Treatment; Situation or Environment; Health Industry; Insurance Industry; Technology Industry; Spain

September 2013 (Revised June 2015)
Case

Fortis Healthcare: Transnational Hospital Network

By: Regina E. Herzlinger, Pushwaz Virk and Natalie Kindred

Fortis, India's largest for-profit hospital chain, must decide if its expensive expansion into the South East Asia market makes sense. View Details

Keywords: Hospital; India; For-profit Hospitals; Expansion; Decision Making; Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry; Southeast Asia; India

September 2012 (Revised March 2014)
Case

Reinventing Brainlab (A)

By: Regina E. Herzlinger, Vincent Dessain and Karol Misztal

The management of Germany's Brainlab AG, a leading provider of software-driven oncology and surgery solutions, needs to evaluate strategic options for proceeding without an exclusive hardware partner in its most profitable business segment. View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Information Infrastructure; Applications and Software; Medical Specialties; Health Care and Treatment; Information Technology Industry; Health Industry; Germany

September 2002 (Revised August 2014)
Case

Cardinal Health (A): The Medicine Shoppe Acquisition

By: Regina E. Herzlinger, Miguel Abecasis and Brenda Cheng

Robert Walter, the founder and CEO of Cardinal Health, a pharmaceutical distributor, is contemplating the purchase of Medicine Shoppe, a chain of apothecaries. The purchase might be construed as competition against his own drugstore customers. But one of its many... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Distribution Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; Retail Industry

September 2001 (Revised April 2005)
Case

ePhysician

By: Regina E. Herzlinger, Grady Clouse and Gayathri Koundinya

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

Find at Harvard

August 2001 (Revised February 2020)
Case

Consumer-Driven Health Care: Medtronic's Health Insurance Options

By: Regina E. Herzlinger, John Hurwitch and Seth Bokser

Describes the variety of health insurance plans that this medical device company offers, including a high-deductible, consumer-driven health plan with a health reimbursement account that also enables health care providers to quote their own prices. Asks students to... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Insurance; Decision Choices and Conditions; Compensation and Benefits; Demand and Consumers

May 2, 2024
Article

Require Hospitals to Disclose Their Pandemic Plans Now

By: Regina E. Herzlinger, Richard J. Boxer and Ben Creo

The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated that U.S. hospital and health care systems were ill-prepared for the surge of patients who overwhelmed available health care resources. An overlooked resource deserves more attention: the availability of intensive care unit (ICU)... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19 Pandemic; Crisis Management; Knowledge Sharing; Governance Compliance; Planning; Health Industry; United States

Read Now

February 2015
Supplement

MedCath Corporation (C)

By: Regina E. Herzlinger, Kevin Schulman and F. Fallon Upke

MedCath is a horizontally integrated chain of heart hospitals that partners with local cardiologists. It claims that its focus leads to better and cheaper results than those of an everything-for-everybody general hospital. Community hospitals generally vehemently... View Details

Keywords: Medical Specialties; Market Entry and Exit; Service Delivery; Conflict and Resolution; Horizontal Integration; Health Industry