Publications

August 2017
Case

Infection Control at Massachusetts General Hospital (Abridged)

By: Robert S. Huckman and Nikolaos Trichakis

The case explores the challenges facing Massachusetts General Hospital concerning the adoption of a new infection control policy, which promises to improve operational performance, patient safety, and profitability. The new policy requires coordination between... View Details

Keywords: Safety; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Integration; Health Care and Treatment; Policy; Health Industry; Boston

January 2011 (Revised March 2011)
Case

Development and Promotion at North Atlantic Hospital

By: Boris Groysberg, Lisa Leffert, Kerry Herman and Libby Williams

Dr. Elizabeth Harris, Chair of the Department of Anesthesiology (DA) at North Atlantic Hospital (NAH), faces several significant challenges. Staff satisfaction surveys confirmed her assessment that department faculty morale was low, the tenure and promotion system was... View Details

Keywords: Training; Employees; Retention; Performance Evaluation; Personal Development and Career; Motivation and Incentives; Health Industry

21 Feb 2018
News

Bon Secours and Mercy Health Merger Creates Regional Hospital Giant

June 2008 (Revised October 2010)
Case

Patient Flow at Brigham and Women's Hospital (A)

By: Anita L. Tucker and Jillian Alexandra Berry

Brigham and Women's Hospital challenged a team of physicians to improve patient flow from the Emergency Department to Intensive Care Units (ICUs). One of the team members, Selwyn Rogers, Director of the Surgical Intensive Care Unit (SICU) at Brigham and Women's... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Health Care and Treatment; Service Operations; Business Processes; Performance Productivity; Conflict and Resolution; Health Industry; Massachusetts

Employee turnover remains one of the most persistent challenges across industries, with the leisure and hospitality sector experiencing some of the highest quit rates in the United States. This issue is particularly pronounced in restaurants, where the average... View Details

03 Mar 2015
News

Milton hospital grows as part of Beth Israel Deaconess network

July 2002 (Revised August 2002)
Case

Washington Hospital Center (C): Progress and Prospects, 1995-2001

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Michelle Heskett

Dr. Craig Feied and Dr. Mark Smith have already transformed a "worst-in-area" emergency medicine department into the best in the area. Industry-wide and hospital system-specific challenges remain, including their newest project of national importance--creating an... View Details

Keywords: History; Higher Education; Organizational Culture; Medical Specialties; Technological Innovation; Change Management; Nonprofit Organizations; Expansion; Crisis Management; Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry; District of Columbia

10 Jul 2021
News

Biden Competition Order Targets Hospital Mergers, Surprise Medical Bills

23 Jan 2020
News

Five Ways Hospitals Will Change in Next Decade

June 1992
Teaching Note

Hospital Replacement Decision, Hospital Corp. of America: Financial Analysis, and Humana, Inc., Teaching Note

By: Regina E. Herzlinger

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Decision Making; Finance; Insurance Industry; Health Industry; United States

January 2010 (Revised August 2012)
Supplement

Hospital for Special Surgery (B): Continuing Challenges of Growth

By: Regina E. Herzlinger and Laura Low Ah Kee

After its successful new U.K. venture, the Hospital for Special Surgery wants to do more of the same, without decimating its core New York City facility. The case provides considerable details about the different options it is exploring. View Details

Keywords: Growth Management; Health Industry; United Kingdom

2024
Working Paper

Cephalosporins—Fighting Hospital Infections: Case Histories of Transformational Advances

By: Amar Bhidé, Srikant Datar and Katherine Stebbins

This case history describes the development of three generations of cephalosporins – antibiotics that have significantly reduced hospital infections. Specifically, we chronicle how: 1) Early (pre-cephalosporin) antibiotics were developed in the first half of the 20th... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Technological Innovation; Innovation Strategy; Technology Adoption; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Innovation and Invention; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms

SSRN

Read Now

April 2012 (Revised February 2013)
Case

Learning About Reducing Hospital Mortality at Kaiser Permanente

By: Anita Tucker

In 2011, Kaiser Permanente Northern California (KPNC) region's efforts to reduce mortality in their 21 hospitals is showing promise. They developed and launched a region-wide initiative to improve the treatment of sepsis, a serious and often deadly medical condition.... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Health Care and Treatment; Performance Improvement; Health Industry; California

17 Jun 2019
Research & Ideas

What Hospitals Must Learn to Compete

Harvard Business School professors Raffaella Sadun and Leemore Dafny are both economists who have studied hospitals extensively—Sadun’s research has looked at the economics of management, while Dafny’s examines interactions between health... View Details

Keywords: by Alumni Bulletin Staff; Health

01 Jan 2020
News

Changes in Quality of Care after Hospital Mergers and Acquisitions

Web

Hospitality & Travel Club | MBA

Hospitality & Travel Club To provide a forum for interested HBS students to increase their knowledge and network of hospitality and travel companies and to enhance their ability to pursue careers in this... View Details

August 1983 (Revised June 1986)
Case

Johnson & Johnson (B): Hospital Services

By: Francis Aguilar

The main issue has to do with the lack of fit or incompatibility between the early environmental requirements for strategy and the cultural constraints on the organization. Describes the internal resistance to the proposed changes and top management's efforts to... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Change Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Health Care and Treatment; Growth and Development Strategy; Health Industry