Publications

July 2013 (Revised July 2015)
Background Note

Innovating in Health Care—Framework

Contains the framework for the second-year Innovating in Health Care course. Delineates the role of six exogenous forces on new ventures: structure, financing, regulations, consumers, accountability, technology, and public policy and presents the essential elements of... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Management; Health Industry

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

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Teaching Interest

Overview

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

Keywords: Healthcare; Healthcare Industry; Healthcare Innovation; Healthcare Costs; Healthcare Operations; Healthcare Organizations; Healthcare Startups; Healthcare Technology; Healthcare Ventures

July 1, 2022
Editorial

New Transparency Rule Helps Rein in Health Care Costs

By: Regina E. Herzlinger and Cynthia A. Fisher

Over the last year, consumer prices have grown 60% faster than wages. Employers can help their employees contend with this high inflation by addressing a long-running source: health care costs. View Details

Keywords: Healthcare Costs; Consumer Prices; Inflation and Deflation; Wages; Health Industry

December 2009 (Revised September 2024)
Case

Phreesia: The Patient Intake Company

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

March 2014 (Revised September 2014)
Supplement

Cancer Treatment Centers of America® (B)

By: Regina E. Herzlinger and Natalie Kindred

This case, a follow-up to Cancer Treatment Centers of America (A), HBS No. 313-012, begins with the debate over New Hampshire's certificate-of-need (CON) law, which restricts hospital expansion. This debate ignited significant public criticism of Cancer Treatment... View Details

Keywords: Cancer; Cancer Treatment; Accountability; Outcomes; Outcomes Reporting; Outcomes Measurement; Survival; For-profit Hospitals; Health Care; Healthcare; Hospital; Certificate Of Need; Health Care and Treatment; Outcome or Result; Corporate Accountability; Policy; Health Industry; United States

June 30, 2020
Article

Bipartisan Tax-Free Solution to Health Care Financing: Coupling HRAs With a Public Option

By: Regina E. Herzlinger, Richard Boxer and James Wallace

A combination of health insurance initiatives by the presumptive 2020 Democratic and Republican presidential nominees could expand health care coverage and significantly reduce costs, without raising taxes. Along the way, the combination could revitalize private... View Details

Keywords: Health Care Financing; Public Option; Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA); Health Care and Treatment; Insurance; Cost Management

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11 Sep 2012
First Look

First Look: September 11

they made by history, or do they make it? In Indispensable, Harvard Business School professor Gautam Mukunda offers an enticingly fresh look at how and when individual leaders really can make a difference. View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Article

Europe's Alternative to Medicare for All: Swiss and Dutch Private Insurance Provide Better Coverage Than Canada's Single-Payer System

By: Regina E. Herzlinger and Bacchus Barua

An analysis of Canada’s single-payer healthcare system shows the dangers of the proposed Medicare for All model. In fact, the Canadian healthcare system is costly and drives poor outcomes when compared to objective performance measures. Alternatively, the Swiss and... View Details

Keywords: Healthcare Systems; Universal Health Coverage; Health Care and Treatment; Insurance; Canada; Switzerland; Netherlands

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December 9, 2020
Article

Give Employees Cash to Purchase Their Own Insurance

By: Regina E. Herzlinger and Barak D. Richman

Employers’ and employees’ health care costs continue to skyrocket. A solution is to allow employers to give employees pre-tax cash to purchase their own health insurance. This move, enabled by a newly enacted federal rule, would put competitive pressure on insurers,... View Details

Keywords: Health Insurance; Health Care and Treatment; Insurance; Employees; Government Legislation

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06 Apr 2010
First Look

First Look: April 6

overview of the bankruptcy of General Motors Corp. Purchase this case:http://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cb/product/210056-PDF-ENG Note on Telemedicine Regina E. Herzlinger and Jillian Peres CopelandHarvard Business... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

January 2023
Exercise

Identify the Health Care Venture

By: Regina E. Herzlinger and James Wallace

This case enables rapid learning of the key financial characteristics of many types of health care organizations and to diagnose their financial status. It is a surprisingly fun exercise (see the Teaching Note) accomplished by organizing groups of students that compete... View Details

Keywords: Health Care; Health Care Spending; Health Care Financing; Health Care Industry; Health Care Operations; Health Care Delivery; Health Care and Treatment; Financial Condition; Health Industry

October 2022 (Revised September 2024)
Case

mPharma: Scaling Access to Affordable Primary Care in Africa

By: Regina E. Herzlinger and Ben Creo

mPharma hopes to scale up to create the largest pan-African healthcare company ever to provide much-needed primary care in retail pharmacies; a reliable, fairly priced supply of drugs; and micro-insurance for drugs. They must prioritize launching a telemedicine... View Details

05 Mar 2013
First Look

First Look: March 5

issuers deteriorates during credit booms, and that this deterioration forecasts low excess returns to corporate bondholders. The key insight is that changes in the pricing of credit risk disproportionately affect the financing costs faced View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

05 Oct 2010
First Look

First Look: October 5, 2010

Purchase this case:http://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cb/product/311049-PDF-ENG Vitalia Franchise Regina E. Herzlinger and Beatriz Munoz-SecaHarvard Business School Case 311-035 Cathy Hoffmann has rapidly grown her... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Research Summary

Overview