Publications

Web

Health Care - Faculty & Research

now convened to review the merits of a potential acquisition of a large group of primary care clinics. The discussion centered on how best to build further on and integrate Humana’s successes to date in... View Details

01 Jun 2011
News

Racial Bias Pervades Health Care

have serious ailments unnoticed during primary care exams. White learned the lesson early on. As a young medical student in Memphis, he watched a black woman being operated on for uterine cancer, a procedure... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne; Health, Social Assistance

Web

Competitions & Challenges - Health Care

Student Activities Competitions & Challenges Business plan challenges and case competitions offer an engaging way to collaborate with students from within HBS and from other schools to develop presentation/pitch skills, work with faculty, and potentially commercialize... View Details

June 10, 2021
Article

Preparing Hospitals for the Next Pandemic

By: Regina E. Herzlinger and Barak D. Richman

The COVID-19 epidemic response has shown that the U.S. is blessed with heroic physicians and other health care providers, researchers, and facilities. But it has also revealed a health care system that was woefully unprepared for the surge of pandemic patients. In the... View Details

Keywords: Hospital; Hospital Management; Hospitals—administration; Health Care; Health Care Industry; Health Care Investment; Health Care Operations; Health Pandemics; Health Care and Treatment; Operations; Performance Improvement; Investment; Health Industry; United States

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January 2024
Background Note

Evaluating Innovations in the Organization of Primary Care: What Type of Innovation Is It and How Well Does It Align with the Six Factors?

By: Regina E. Herzlinger and James Wallace

How can we evaluate if innovative health care ventures can do good—benefit society—and do well—become financially viable? This question is the topic of the first module in the Innovating in Health Care course book.

This note and "Health Stop (A): What Type... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Health Care and Treatment; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Mission and Purpose; Alignment; Health Industry

February 8, 2022
Article

Time-Driven Activity-Based Cost Comparison of Treating Five Acute, Low-Severity Conditions

By: Alan Yang, Andy Hung-Yi Lee, Joseph W. Kopp, Katherine D. Rose, Adam M. Licurse, Philip D. Anderson and Robert S. Kaplan

In 2017, patients made 145 million visits to emergency departments (EDs), generating $76.3 billion in charges. About a third of ED visits, however, were for conditions that were treatable in lower-resourced settings. We used time-driven activity-based costing (TDABC)... View Details

Keywords: Time-Driven ABC; Health Care Costs; Activity Based Costing and Management; Health Care and Treatment

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April 2022
Teaching Note

CVS Health: Prescription for Transformation

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Catarina Martinez

In 2021, new CEO Karen Lynch (named the most powerful woman in business) considered the next transformation phase for CVS Health (a Fortune 5 corporate giant). The 2018 acquisition of Aetna insurance brought her to the company as part of its long evolution from a... View Details

Keywords: Health; COVID-19 Pandemic; Primary Care; Leadership; Change Management; Women Executives; Retail; Pharmacy; Pharmacy Benefit Manager; Clinical Trials; Vaccination; Acquisition; Innovation and Invention; Transformation; Retail Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; Health Industry; United States

November 2023
Article

Effects of Remote Patient Monitoring Use on Care Outcomes Among Medicare Patients with Hypertension

By: Mitchell Tang, Carter Nakamoto, Ariel Dora Stern, Jose Zubizarreta, Felippe Marcondes, Lori Uscher-Pines, Lee Schwamm and Ateev Mehrotra

Background: Remote patient monitoring (RPM) is a promising tool for improving chronic disease management. Use of RPM for hypertension monitoring is growing rapidly, raising concerns about increased spending. However, the effects of RPM are still... View Details

Keywords: Cost; Health Care and Treatment; Measurement and Metrics

March 2023 (Revised June 2025)
Case

Close Concerns: Diabetes Research and Advocacy

By: Regina E. Herzlinger and Brian L. Walker

This case describes the Exit considerations of Kelly Close, HBS MBA, and founder of the primary distributor of diabetes newsletters. It is part of the fourth module in the Innovating in Health Care HBS MBA course, which contains cases of other health care firms that... View Details

Keywords: Diabetes; Health; Health Care; Health Care And Treatment; Health Care Outcomes; Health Care Industry; Knowledge Dissemination; Outcome or Result; Equality and Inequality; Business Model; Entrepreneurship

February 1999 (Revised March 2000)
Case

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center: Coordinating Patient Care

External cost pressures are motivating the adoption of case management (CM) at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), but several of the organization's key professional groups are working against it. President and CEO David Dolins must decide whether CM is... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Service Operations; Organizational Culture; Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry; Boston

Article

Administrative Costs Associated with Physician Billing and Insurance-Related Activities at an Academic Health Care System

By: Phillip Tseng, Robert S. Kaplan, Barak D. Richman, Mahek A. Shah and Kevin A. Schulman

The federal government mandated adoption of certified electronic health record systems (EHR), at least in part, to reduce administrative costs for physicians. This study used time-driven activity-based costing to determine the administrative costs associated with... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Cost Management; Insurance; Problems and Challenges

Web

Health Care Courses - Institute For Strategy And Competitiveness

HBS ISC Health Care Health Care Value-Based Health Care Health Care Courses Fast Facts Health Care Courses Health... View Details

04 Apr 2011
Research & Ideas

Attention Medical Shoppers: What Health Care Can Learn from Walmart and Amazon

average wait for a primary care visit in Massachusetts, world renowned for its medical facilities, is a whopping 50 days. Only 3 percent of American physicians regularly e-mail their patients, less, he said,... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Health

Web

Geography of Care - Institute For Strategy And Competitiveness

with community providers to extend the reach of Integrated Practice Units (IPUs) Increase the volume of patients in medical conditions or primary care segments, rather than widening service lines locally, or... View Details

March 2024
Article

Differences in Care Team Response to Patient Portal Messages by Patient Race and Ethnicity

By: Mitchell Tang, Rebecca Mishuris, Lily Payvandi and Ariel Dora Stern

Importance: The COVID-19 pandemic was associated with substantial growth in patient portal messaging. Higher message volumes have largely persisted, reflecting a new normal. Prior work has documented lower message use by patients who belong to minoritized racial... View Details

Keywords: Health Pandemics; Technology Adoption; Prejudice and Bias; Equality and Inequality; Communication Technology; Race; Ethnicity; Health Industry

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01 Oct 2024
Cold Call Podcast

Choosing Passion: A Founder’s Mission to Meet a Need for Obesity Care

Keywords: Re: Jon M. Jachimowicz; Health

April 2023 (Revised January 2024)
Background Note

Note on Healthcare in Ghana

By: Regina E. Herzlinger and Ben Creo

This note provides an overview of the healthcare system in Ghana. It discusses the public and private sector as well as traditional medical practice. It also discusses the country’s pharmaceutical industry. It is recommended as a companion to Professor Regina... View Details

Keywords: Africa; Pharmaceutical Companies; Pharmacy Benefit Manager; Health Care; Health Care Costs; Health Care Delivery; Health Care Entrepreneurship; Telehealth; Health Equity; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Health Care and Treatment; Business and Government Relations; Health Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; Ghana