Publications

16 Jul 2010
News

Health Insurance Rate Wars - Are We Focused on the Right Fight?

October 2014 (Revised October 2014)
Case

RedBrick Health: How to Fatten the Company That Slims...

By: Robert F. Higgins and Robert M. Greenglass

The case describes this health and wellness service company and poses the question: should RedBrick stay on the path of building out its product platform, or should the RedBrick platform be launched directly to health insurers, ACOs, or directly to customers? View Details

Keywords: ACOs; Accountable Care Organization; Healthcare; Health Services; Healthcare Industry; Health Engagement Company; Entrepreneurship; Health Care and Treatment; Growth and Development Strategy; Health Industry; United States

November 2016 (Revised April 2017)
Case

Hygeia Group: Delivering Quality Care in Nigeria

By: Robert F. Higgins and Ifedayo O. Kuye

Fola Laoye is the Group Managing Director of Hygeia Group, a Nigerian healthcare insurer and provider, and she is deciding on the optimal strategy to grow the provider arm of her business. Hygeia Group was founded in the 1980s by her physician parents, and although... View Details

Keywords: Healthcare; Healthcare Industry; Hospitals; Nigeria; Health Care and Treatment; Growth and Development Strategy; Health Industry; Nigeria

January 2019 (Revised June 2019)
Technical Note

U.S. Commercial Health Insurance Industry

By: Susanna Gallani, Mary Witkowski and Harry B. Wolberg

This note describes the role of commercial payers in the U.S. healthcare industry. We begin with a review of the historical evolution of commercial payers and their role in the market, from the beginning to the Affordable Care Act and beyond. Every wave of reforms in... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Insurance; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Health Industry; Health Industry; United States

October 2018 (Revised April 2019)
Case

The Brigham and Women's Hospital Innovation Hub: Driving Internal Innovation

By: Ariel D. Stern and Robert S. Huckman

Keywords: Healthcare; Innovation; Hospital; Health; Health Care

January 2014 (Revised June 2014)
Case

23andMe: Genetic Testing for Consumers (A)

By: John A. Quelch and Margaret L. Rodriguez

On November 22, 2013, the direct-to-consumer genetic testing provider, 23andMe, received a letter from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ordering the company to halt the sale and promotion of its genetic testing kit. The FDA stated that the product was... View Details

Keywords: Public Health; Genome Testing; Health Care; Ancestry; 23andMe; Marketing; Product Launch; Health; Health Care and Treatment; Health Testing and Trials; Genetics; Strategy; Health Industry; United States

15 Apr 2020
News

Designating Certain Post-Acute Care Facilities As COVID-19 Skilled Care Centers Can Increase Hospital Capacity And Keep Nursing Home Patients Safer

May 2016
Article

How the Affordable Care Act Has Affected Cancer Care in the United States: Has Value for Cancer Patients Improved?

By: Stephen M. Schleicher, Nancy M. Wood, Seohyun Lee and Thomas W. Feeley

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), passed in 2010, contained a number of provisions with potential to directly or indirectly affect cancer care. Value for patients was widely discussed throughout the bill, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid... View Details

Keywords: Value; Laws and Statutes; Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry; United States

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Article

Why Apps for Managing Chronic Disease Haven't Been Widely Used, and How to Fix It

By: Robert S. Huckman and Ariel Dora Stern

Keywords: Health Care; Digital Health; Chronic Disease; App; Health Information Technology; Information Technology; Health Industry; United States

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09 Dec 2009
Working Paper Summaries

Mental Health in the Aftermath of Conflict

Keywords: by Quy-Toan Do & Lakshmi Iyer

20 Oct 2017
Blog Post

Taking Care to Prepare Leaders: Lessons in Leadership Development from DaVita Kidney Care

In September 2010, Lauren Coyle, HBS MBA 2010, entered the leadership development program at DaVita Kidney Care. Formally titled, “The Redwoods Program,” it would guide Coyle through a three-phase curriculum that concluded in April 2011, and lead to the general... View Details

Keywords: Health Care

2009
Working Paper

Mental Health in the Aftermath of Conflict

By: Quy-Toan Do and Lakshmi Iyer

We survey the recent literature on the mental health effects of conflict. We highlight the methodological challenges faced in this literature, which include the lack of validated mental health scales in a survey context, the difficulties in measuring individual... View Details

Keywords: Ethnicity; War; Health Disorders; Policy; Health Care and Treatment; Conflict and Resolution; Bosnia and Hercegovina

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March 2010 (Revised February 2014)
Case

Community Health Workers in Zambia: Incentive Design and Management

By: Nava Ashraf and Natalie Kindred

This case examines the various considerations relevant to selecting and compensating workers in a context where their work involves a pro-social component. This is relevant to not only health care in Zambia, but to NGO and public sector workers who are both motivated... View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Training; Health Care and Treatment; Compensation and Benefits; Recruitment; Selection and Staffing; Mission and Purpose; Non-Governmental Organizations; Motivation and Incentives; Health Industry; Zambia

01 Mar 2005
News

Better Care at Lower Cost

As the opening presenter at the two-day conference, sponsored by the HBS Health Industry Alumni Association, Christensen made the case for how disruptive innovation could give consumers access to simpler, less expensive, quality care.... View Details

Keywords: Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services; Health, Social Assistance

September 2013 (Revised October 2016)
Background Note

A Note on Healthcare IT and Applications to the Healthcare Industry

By: Robert F. Higgins and Diana Maichin

This note provides an overview of three key healthcare IT areas: electronic medical records and electronic health records, revenue cycle management, and telemedicine. This note also contains a glossary of key terms and acronyms in this space as well as exhibits... View Details

Keywords: Health Care; Health Care Industry; Healthcare IT; Healthcare; Healthcare Technology; Healthcare Ventures; Electronic Medical Records; Electronic Health Records; Revenue Cycle Management; Telemedicine; Health; Health Care and Treatment; Information Technology; Information Management; Health Industry; Health Industry; United States

10 Mar 2015
News

Cost of care for a common prostate condition measured for the first time

11 Apr 2016
News

Professor Raffaella Sadun on Improving Care in Hospitals

April 2014 (Revised January 2015)
Background Note

Note on Mobile Healthcare

By: John A. Quelch and Margaret L. Rodriguez

Delivering health care to the global population was a challenge. Health care costs accounted for ten percent of world GDP by 2013. In the U.S., health care costs were expected to top $3.1 trillion in 2014. New technologies, shortages of trained personnel and... View Details

January 2008 (Revised August 2012)
Case

Retail Sales of Health Insurance: Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida

By: Regina E. Herzlinger and Grady Clouse

The BCBS of Florida is contemplating whether to enter the consumer-driven health care market and if so, whether to target such groups—and individuals—and in which of its geographic markets, and how. View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Nonprofit Organizations; Strategy; Insurance; Insurance Industry; Florida