Publications

May 2008 (Revised April 2018)
Case

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center: Interdisciplinary Cancer Care

By: Michael E. Porter and Sachin H. Jain

In 2006, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center was an internationally leading institution for cancer care, education, and research. Since 1996, it had successfully reorganized itself from a cancer hospital that was physically organized around clinical... View Details

Keywords: Buildings and Facilities; Health Disorders; Organizational Structure; Medical Specialties; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Value Creation; Service Delivery; Research; Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry; Health Industry; Texas

January 2001
Case

Merck Global Health Initiatives (B): Botswana

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: Health Disorders; Health Care and Treatment; Private Sector; Public Sector; Alliances; Problems and Challenges; Africa; Botswana

18 Oct 2016
Op-Ed

Why Business Should Invest in Community Health

Foundation shows how the unhealthiness of an industry’s workers correlates closely with the unhealthiness of the communities in which those workers and their families reside. Companies that invest in community health have the potential to... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch, Howard Koh, and Pamela Yatsko; Health

14 Dec 2013
News

IT Start-Up Eases Health Plan Hiccups

March 2018
Case

Sandra Brown Goes Digital (A): The Promise and Perils of Social Movements in a Healthcare Company

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Jonathan Cohen

As a middle manager at a biotechnology company, Sandra Brown harnessed digital tools and social media to engage others and build campaigns for change in the company. This case follows her career at the company and describes the challenges she faced as a change agent,... View Details

Keywords: Digital; Engagement; Stakeholder Engagement; Grassroots Movement; Organization Change And Adaptation; Quality; Health Care; Health Care Industry; Career Path; Leading Change; Management; Innovation and Management; Personal Development and Career; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Health Industry; Health Industry

16 May 2014
News

Health cuts ‘wrong way’ to reform system, Harvard expert says

January 2, 2020
Article

Changes in Quality of Care After Hospital Mergers and Acquisitions

By: Nancy Dean Beaulieu, Leemore S. Dafny, B. E. Landon, Jesse Dalton, Ifedayo Kuye and J. Michael McWilliams

Background: The hospital industry has consolidated substantially during the past two decades and at an accelerated pace since 2010. Multiple studies have shown that hospital mergers have led to higher prices for commercially insured patients, but research about effects... View Details

Keywords: Hospitals; Mergers and Acquisitions; Health Care and Treatment; Quality

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02 Mar 2007
What Do You Think?

What Is the Government’s Role in US Health Care?

government's role in U.S. healthcare? What do you think? To Read More: Robert H. Frank, "A Health Care Plan So Simple, Even Stephen Colbert Couldn't Simplify It," The New York Times, February 18, 2007, p.... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett; Health

September–October 2023
Article

Prospective Evaluation of the Cost of Performing Breast Imaging Examinations Using Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing Method: A Single Center Study

By: Aamir Ali, Jordana Phillips, Damir Ljuboja, Syed S. Shehab, Etta D. Pisano, Robert S. Kaplan and Ammar Sarwar

We use time-driven activity-based costing (TDABC) to measure the cost of performing breast imaging using different modalities: full-field digital mammography (FFDM), digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT), contrast-enhanced mammography (CEM), US and MRI exams, and... View Details

Keywords: Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing; Health Care; Breast Cancer; Health Care and Treatment; Cost; Cost Accounting; Health Industry

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01 Sep 2011
News

Student Trio Advance Health Payment Reform

Related Links Read about other efforts in healthcare delivery Three HBS students spent much of the last academic year helping a leading Boston hospital answer one of the most important questions in health-care management: how to create a new payment system that saves... View Details

Keywords: bundling; Health, Social Assistance

March 2019 (Revised June 2021)
Case

HelloSelf: Foundation

By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock

On January 6, 2019, HelloSelf, a London-based “BrainTech” company, founded a year earlier by Charles Wells, soft launched. The proposition was simply to help its members “Be your Best Self.” The company provided its registered members with access to a clinical... View Details

01 Feb 1997
News

Herzlinger on Health Care: Revolution in Evolution

use expensive technology, which many people cite as the reason for high U.S. health-care costs? Actually,the opposite is true: advances in medical technology have made health care cheaper and better - and... View Details

10 Nov 2016
News

Bringing the Power of Platforms to Heath Care

Keywords: healthcare; disruptive innovation; Ambulatory Health Care Services; Ambulatory Health Care Services

01 Dec 2017
News

2017 in Health Care: Telemedicine Has Arrived

help achieve better access to care and a lower cost of care. And employers are embracing telemedicine as a way to provide employees convenient health care at a lower cost for... View Details

Keywords: Halle Tecco (MBA 2011), founder emeritus, Rock Health; angel investor; adjunct professor, Columbia Business School

February 1999 (Revised March 2000)
Case

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center: Coordinating Patient Care

External cost pressures are motivating the adoption of case management (CM) at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), but several of the organization's key professional groups are working against it. President and CEO David Dolins must decide whether CM is... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Service Operations; Organizational Culture; Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry; Boston

July 2021 (Revised July 2022)
Case

Brigham & Women's Hospital: Using Patient Reported Outcomes to Improve Breast Cancer Care

By: Robert S. Kaplan, Navraj S. Nagra and Syed S. Shehab

Dr. Andrea Pusic, breast cancer reconstruction surgeon, wants to extend outcomes measurement beyond traditional surgical metrics of infections, complications, and survival rates. The case describes her development of a new mobile phone app, which collects patients’... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Outcome or Result; Cost Management; Activity Based Costing and Management; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Health Testing and Trials; Surveys; Health Industry; Boston