Publications

Read Now

27 Jul 2016
News

The 27 best health and science books to read this summer

April 2010
Teaching Note

Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center: Spine Care (TN)

By: Robert S. Huckman and Michael E. Porter

Teaching Note for [609016]. View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Health Disorders; Research; Performance Effectiveness; Outcome or Result; Education Industry; United States

04 Oct 2016
Blog Post

Why We Recruit: CVS Health

organization.Jeff Lackey, VP Talent Acquisition, CVS Health Describe your organization in three to five sentences.CVS Health is at the forefront of a changing health View Details

Keywords: Health Care

11 Sep 2018
Blog Post

Care for the Elderly: Process is More Important Than the Destination

With the support of the HBS Summer Fellows Program, I had the opportunity to follow my passion and work on my project to support senior care in China. As China is entering into an ageing society sooner than... View Details

Keywords: Health Care

March 2011
Teaching Note

PrimedicProviding Primary Care in Mexico (TN)

By: Richard G. Hamermesh

Teaching Note for 811040. View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Health Care and Treatment; Venture Capital; Financing and Loans; Business Model; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Mexico

January 2, 2020
Article

Medicare for All or Public Option: Can Either Heal Health Care?

By: Regina E. Herzlinger and James Wallace

The United States has serious health care problems: More than 27 million uninsured people, costs that are growing faster than income, and a staggering $37 trillion of unfunded liabilities in the Medicare program. Perhaps most alarming: The US ranks lowest among... View Details

Keywords: Healthcare; Public Option; Medicare; Health Care and Treatment; Insurance; Cost Management; Problems and Challenges; United States

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05 Aug 2002
Research & Ideas

Are Consumers the Cure for Broken Health Insurance?

fret about the quality of the care they receive, the burden of out-of-pocket expenses, and gaps in coverage for long-term care, prescriptions, and catastrophic illnesses. For... View Details

Keywords: by Regina E. Herzlinger

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

Article

One Obstacle to Curing Cancer: Patient Data Isn't Shared

By: Richard G. Hamermesh and Kathy Giusti

Precision Medicine requires large datasets to identify the mutations that lead to various cancers. Currently, genomic information is hoarded in fragmented silos within numerous academic medical centers, pharmaceutical companies, and some disease-based foundations. For... View Details

Keywords: Healthcare; Technological And Scientific Innovation; Cancer Care In The U.S.; Cancer Treatment; Precision Medicine; Personalized Medicine; Data Sharing; Technological Innovation; Analytics and Data Science; Health Disorders; Medical Specialties; Research and Development; Customization and Personalization; Health Industry; United States

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12 Nov 2015
Research & Ideas

Can Consumers be Trusted with Their Own Health Care?

supermarket, stopping to linger as long as they wanted or moving as quickly as they wished. A one-size-fits-all approach to health care doesn’t work. ©iStock/AndreyPopov “There is more choice available to... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Health

2004
Chapter

Consumer-Driven Health Care: Management Matters

By: Richard M.J. Bohmer, Amy C. Edmondson and Gary P. Pisano

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Demand and Consumers; Management; Health Industry

24 Apr 2014
News

Improving patient care through better communication

Harvard Business School Professor Amy C. Edmondson explores how open communication in hospitals leads to improved patient care. (Published April 2014) View Details

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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Web

The Global Health Delivery Project - Institute For Strategy And Competitiveness

and educational programs in the design and management of health care delivery systems in resource poor settings View Details

October 2017
Case

Pricing PatientPing

By: Frank V. Cespedes, Julia Kelley and Amram Migdal

In 2017, Jay Desai, the CEO of Boston-based health care technology company PatientPing, had to consider a number of interrelated pricing challenges. Founded in late 2013, PatientPing sold a software platform that allowed health care providers to receive real-time... View Details

Keywords: Pricing; Health Tech; Health Technology; Marketing; Sales Process; Sales Strategy; Price; Sales; Marketing Strategy; Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry; Health Industry; Boston; North America; Massachusetts; United States

January 2001
Case

Merck Global Health Initiatives (A)

By: James E. Austin, Diana Barrett and James Weber

The case series focuses on Merck's drug donation program and then raises new issues facing management about what to do about HIV/AIDS in Africa given the company's development of a new therapy. Describes collaboration among many parties including the Gates Foundation,... View Details

Keywords: Programs; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Health Disorders; Health Care and Treatment; Private Sector; Public Sector; Alliances; Problems and Challenges; Pharmaceutical Industry; Botswana

March 2018
Case

University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center: Managing Capacity in Neurology

By: Joel Goh, Robert S. Huckman and Nikhil Sahni

In December 2014, Dr. Anthony Furlan, chair of the Department of Neurology at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center (UH), faced a mandate from the hospital’s executive leadership team. Specifically, all UH departments were directed to take steps within six... View Details

Keywords: Health Care; Hospitals; Capacity Planning; Scheduling; Health Care and Treatment; Service Operations; Performance Capacity; Health Industry; North America; United States; Ohio; Cleveland

April 2025
Case

#FutureFresenius: Implementing a New Strategy to Transform the Company and Advance Patient Care

By: David J. Collis, Benjamin C. Esty and Haisley Wert

In February 2024, Fresenius CEO Michael Sen reflected on the company’s transformation journey from his office in Bad Homburg, Germany. With revenues of €22 billion and a mission to advance patient care, Fresenius had built a strong reputation through decades of... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Planning; Corporate Strategy; Transformation; Finance; Leading Change; Organizational Culture; Organizational Structure; Alignment; Health Industry; Germany; United States

Article

Do We Spend Too Much on Health Care?

By: Katherine Baicker and Amitabh Chandra

Health system reforms—such as changes in insurance design, patient cost sharing, payment reform, or price regulation—should be judged by whether they move us toward higher-value use of resources, rather than by whether they reduce spending. View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Cost; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Value Creation