Publications

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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October 2016 (Revised January 2017)
Background Note

The U.S. Health Club Industry, 2005–2016

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

In 2015, the U.S. health-club industry generated revenues of $25.8 billion, up from $14.8 billion in 2004. Members of health clubs accounted for 17% of the population, up from 14%. The number of clubs had grown from 26,830 in 2004 to 36,180. In the process, the list of... View Details

April 2017
Teaching Note

CV Ingenuity (A) and (B)

By: Regina E. Herzlinger

Teaching Note for HBS Nos. 315-045 and 315-087. View Details

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

January 2009 (Revised February 2009)
Case

Pitney Bowes: Employer Health Strategy

By: Michael E. Porter and Jennifer F Baron

Pitney Bowes, a Fortune 500 mail and document management firm, offered its first health plans in the years following World War II. Over the ensuing decades, Pitney Bowes adapted its approach to employee health amid rising health care costs, shifting employer attitudes... View Details

Keywords: Cost; Insurance; Policy; Health Care and Treatment; Compensation and Benefits; Employees; Corporate Strategy

July – August 2011
Article

The Enabling Role of Social Position in Diverging from the Institutional Status Quo: Evidence from the U.K. National Health Service

By: Julie Battilana

This study examines the relationship between social position, both within the field and within the organization, and the likelihood of individual actors initiating organizational changes that diverge from the institutional status quo. I explore this relationship using... View Details

Keywords: Status and Position; Transformation; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Projects; Leading Change; Managerial Roles; Relationships; Power and Influence; Health Industry; United Kingdom

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Article

Lessons from Mayo Clinic's Redesign of Stroke Care

By: Robert S. Kaplan, W. David Freeman, Kevin M. Barrett, Lisa Nordan, Aaron C. Spaulding and Meredith Karney

Facing escalating costs of medications and technology, health care patients and providers in the United States continue to search for opportunities to reduce overall costs while maintaining and improving health care outcomes. The Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Stroke Center... View Details

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December 2014 (Revised February 2020)
Case

Compass Group: The Ascension Health Decision

By: Ryan W. Buell

In 2012, Compass Group (Compass) was on the verge of closing a $2 billion deal with Ascension Health (Ascension), one of the largest healthcare systems in the United States. Under the deal, Compass would provide foodservice management and cleaning services for 86 of... View Details

Keywords: Operations Strategy; Sectorization; Operational Focus; Customer Compatibility; Service Operations; Service Delivery; Operations; Strategy; Customer Focus and Relationships; Service Industry; Service Industry; United States

27 Dec 2014
Working Paper Summaries

How Should We Pay for Health Care?

Keywords: by Michael E. Porter & Robert S. Kaplan; Health

15 Jul 2020
Video

The HBS Health Minute: Thinking Outside the Building to Meet Unmet Health Needs

December 2022
Article

Cost Standard Set Program: Moving Forward to Standardization of Cost Assessment Based on Clinical Condition

By: Anna Paula Beck da Silva Etges, Richard D. Urman, Anne Geubelle, Robert Kaplan and Carisi Anne Polanczyk

This communication announces the International Cost Standard Set Program. Its goal is to establish global standardized frameworks for measuring the costs of treating specific clinical conditions. A scientific committee, including 16 international healthcare cost... View Details

Keywords: Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing; Value-based Health Care; Cost; Health Care and Treatment; Activity Based Costing and Management; Health Industry

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05 Sep 2012
What Do You Think?

Will Business Management Save US Health Care?

Summing Up What Role Will Management Play in Saving US Health Care? The verdict is in, according to respondents of this month's column: Problems confronting health care in the... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett; Health

Article

Can Big-Box Retailers Provide Local Health Care?

By: Robert S. Huckman

National retailers, most notably Walmart and Best Buy, are making big bets on their ability to fill this need for local health care. At first glance, these moves are a bit surprising given that these companies have not traditionally been focused on health care... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Service Delivery; Local Range; Health Industry; Health Industry

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March 2015
Case

Bloodbuy

By: Richard G. Hamermesh and Michael Norris

In 2015, Chris Godfrey, founder and CEO of Bloodbuy, has to consider the best path to growth for his young company, which is attempting to disrupt the blood donation industry. View Details

Keywords: Health Care; Health Care Entrepreneurship; Blood Donation; Health Care and Treatment; Entrepreneurship; Health Industry; United States

April 2009 (Revised May 2010)
Case

Partners In Health: HIV Care in Rwanda

By: Michael E. Porter, Scott S. Lee, Joseph Rhatigan and Jim Yong Kim

In 2005, Partners in Health (PIH) was invited by the Rwandan Ministry of Health to assume responsibility for the management of public health care in two rural districts in Eastern Rwanda and create an HIV treatment program at these sites. PIH successfully implemented a... View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Health Care and Treatment; Health Testing and Trials; Medical Specialties; Service Delivery; Nonprofit Organizations; Expansion; Health Industry; Rwanda

November 8, 2018
Article

Transitioning Payment Models: Fee-for-Service to Value-Based Care

By: Thomas W. Feeley and Namita Seth Mohta

In a survey of the NEJM Catalyst Insights Council in July 2018, 42% of respondents say they think value-based reimbursement models will be the primary revenue model for U.S. health care. Indeed, this transition is already happening. Respondents report that a quarter of... View Details

Keywords: Payment Methods; Value-based Healthcare Reimbursements; Health Care and Treatment; Value; Transformation

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01 Apr 2015
News

The Slow, Steady Battle to Fix Cancer Care

03 Feb 2016
Research & Ideas

The State of Customer Service Leadership

Clinic. It’s organized around the patient, not the care provider. The work and pay are largely based on team performance. Medical “stars” would find the place very uncomfortable. And yet, through collaboration and teamwork, the people of... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Aisner; Retail

31 Jan 2018
News

Regi’s ‘Innovating in Health Care’ Case Corner

2014
Other Unpublished Work

Nudging Physicians to Pursue Careers in Underserved Areas: A Case for Behavioral Economics

By: Joseph Lopez, Mona Singh, Nava Ashraf and Joel Weissman

Currently, more than 60 million Americans live in "Health Professional Shortage Areas." Unless policymakers can encourage more physicians to practice in medically under-resourced areas, an increased number of uninsured individuals newly able to obtain health insurance... View Details

Keywords: Access To Care; Health Economics; Health Reform; Minority Health; Disparities; Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry