Publications

March 31, 2022
Article

Two Approaches to Capping Health Care Prices

By: Michael E. Chernew, Maximilian J. Pany and Leemore S. Dafny

High health care prices for the privately-insured contribute to high premiums, which put downward pressure on wages, and induce employers to reduce benefit generosity and charge employees more for coverage. As the average annual premium for family coverage currently... View Details

Keywords: Price Caps; Health Care and Treatment; Price

Article

How Not to Cut Health Care Costs

By: Robert S. Kaplan and Derek A. Haas

Health care providers in much of the world are trying to respond to the tremendous pressure to reduce costs—but evidence suggests that many of their attempts are counterproductive, raising costs and sometimes decreasing the quality of care. Using evidence from field... View Details

11 Oct 2012
Other Presentation

Introduction to Value Based Health Care Delivery

By: Michael E. Porter

This presentation draws on Redefining Health Care: Creating Value-Based Competition on Results (with Elizabeth O. Teisberg), Harvard Business School Press, May 2006; "A Strategy for Health Care Reform—Toward a Value-Based System," New England Journal of... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; United States

October 2014 (Revised July 2016)
Supplement

Gilead: Hepatitis C Access Strategy (B)

By: V. Kasturi Rangan

While the "Gilead: Hepatitis-C Access Strategy (A)" case (HBS No. 515-025) poses questions on what the company should do with respect to hard-hit countries like Egypt and India, the (B) case provides the answer. In both cases, the company chose to pursue a proactive... View Details

Keywords: Emerging Markets; Health Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry

07 Oct 2014
News

Michael Porter: Disrupt Health Care to Save It

Forthcoming
Article

Mitigating the Negative Effects of Customer Anxiety Through Access to Human Contact

By: Michelle A. Kinch and Ryan W. Buell

Prior research in social psychology has shown that when people feel anxious, they seek advice from others. However, companies that operate in high-anxiety settings (like financial services, health care, and education) are increasingly deploying self-service... View Details

Keywords: Anxiety; Self-service; Empirical Operations; Behavioral Operations; Communication Technology; Behavior; Customer Focus and Relationships; Trust; Satisfaction; Financial Services Industry

Web

Health Care Programs

August 2012 (Revised February 2021)
Case

Hub and Spoke, HealthCare Global and Additional Focused Factory Models for Cancer Care

By: Regina E. Herzlinger, Amit Ghorawat, Meera Krishnan and Naiyya Saggi

This case compares and contrasts four different models for delivering cancer care in India and the US. Students are asked to select the best model in its alignment with the Six Forces in those two countries and Africa, to which one of the models is considering... View Details

Keywords: Cancer Care Services; Focused Factories For Cancer Care; Hub And Spoke Cancer Care; Cancer Care In The U.S.; Cancer Care In Africa; Cancer Care In India; Health Care and Treatment; Business Model; Six Sigma; Health Disorders; Health Industry; United States; India; Africa

Educators

Blog Post

Why Economic Conservatives Should Support the Individual Mandate in Health Care

By: Regina E. Herzlinger

Although many conservatives are gnashing their teeth about the Supreme Court's upholding the individual mandate, had it not been upheld, their worst nightmares would have occurred: government would have required hundreds of billions in additional taxes to pay for... View Details

Keywords: Health Care; Health Care Industry; Health Insurance; Health; Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry

Article

Assessing the Value of Pediatric Aerodigestive Care

By: Robert S. Kaplan, Chris Hartnick, Mahek Shah, Steven M. Coppess, Alisa Yamasaki, Kaalan E. Johnson, Jeremy Prager, Christopher T. Wootten, Thomas Gallagher and Evan Propst

Leaders at six hospitals conducted a research study to assess and compare the health outcomes and costs of pediatric aerodigestive care. Four of the hospitals delivered care with an integrated practice unit (IPU) while two delivered care traditionally, with isolated... View Details

Keywords: Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing; Value-based Health Care; Integrated Practice Unit; Health Care and Treatment; Cost Management; Performance Improvement

April 2014 (Revised March 2018)
Case

Texas Children's Hospital: Congenital Heart Disease Care

By: Michael E. Porter, Justin M. Bachmann and Zachary C. Landman

In 2014, Dr. Charles D. Fraser Jr., Surgeon-in-Chief of Texas Children's Hospital in Houston, was contemplating the future direction of the congenital heart disease program. The nation's largest pediatric hospital, Texas Children's was ranked by U.S. News & World... View Details

Keywords: Health Care; Congenital Heart Disease; Integrated Practice Units; Health Care and Treatment; Outcome or Result; Measurement and Metrics; Performance Improvement; Health Industry; United States; Texas

Educators

29 Jun 2010
News

Google Alters China Access In Bid To Keep License

03 Dec 2013
News

Barriers to Health Care Innovation

June 15, 2021
Article

Cutting the Gordian Knot of Employee Health Care Benefits and Costs: A Corporate Model Built on Employee Choice

By: Regina E. Herzlinger and Barak D. Richman

President Joe Biden’s promise to give every American access to affordable health insurance is well-intentioned, but his plan’s policy elements—a public option, a permanent expanded tax credit—require congressional approval and would expend significant political and... View Details

Keywords: Health Insurance; Health Insurance Marketplaces; Health Care Delivery; Health Care Financing; Health Care Industry; Health Care and Treatment; Insurance; Service Delivery; Cost Management; Health Industry; United States

12 Jan 2006
News

What Do 'Hot Mamas' Want? Access to Capital, Markets

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

10 Sep 2020
News

The Business of Access

Karae Lisle (MBA 1998) has watched firsthand the struggles of homeless, with a close family member living on the streets and in shelters in Florida, on and off, for years. His personal struggles limited the family’s ability to help, so... View Details

May 2022
Article

Variance Analysis: New Insights from Health Care Applications

By: Robert S. Kaplan and Susanna Gallani

We use a health care application to illustrate how variance analysis can be used to benchmark costs across similar service delivery sites. Variances for personnel costs, typically the largest cost component in service organizations, are calculated for price, quantity,... View Details

Keywords: Variance Analysis; Benchmarking; Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing; Health Care; Activity Based Costing and Management; Health Care and Treatment; Service Delivery; Service Industry

February 2015
Supplement

The Affordable Care Act (F): Regaining Momentum

By: Joseph L. Bower and Michael Norris

In the fall of 2009, President Obama makes a speech to a joint session of Congress in an attempt to regain lost momentum on health reform and get a bill through Congress. View Details

Keywords: Health Care; Health Care Policy; Government And Politics; Health; Policy; Health Industry; United States