Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • March 2009 (Revised September 2010)
  • Case
  • HBS Case Collection

Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center: Spine Care

By: Robert S. Huckman, Michael E. Porter, Rachel Gordon and Natalie Kindred
  • Format:Print
  • | Pages:32
ShareBar

Abstract

Describes the Spine Center at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, a multidisciplinary unit that offers patients suffering from spinal problems "one-stop" access to a range of providers including orthopedic surgeons, neurosurgeons, neurologists, medical specialists in physical medicine and pain management, mental health providers, and occupational and physical therapists. The Center was created to address what its founder, James Weinstein, M.D., saw as the uncoordinated and inefficient delivery of spinal care in the United States. The Center emphasized using non-surgical treatments (e.g., physical therapy and exercise, behavioral modification, pain-relieving drugs) as either a complement to, or substitute for, surgical procedures, and patients were actively engaged in the process of determining what type of care to pursue. In addition, Weinstein and his staff collected data from the Center's clinical practice to conduct academic research on the outcomes and cost-effectiveness of various approaches to treatment. The case allows for a critical analysis of the Spine Center's unique approach to care delivery and provides an opportunity to examine the applicability of this model in other clinical areas.

Keywords

Health Care and Treatment; Medical Specialties; Service Delivery; Service Operations; Integration; Value Creation; Health Industry; United States

Citation

Huckman, Robert S., Michael E. Porter, Rachel Gordon, and Natalie Kindred. "Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center: Spine Care." Harvard Business School Case 609-016, March 2009. (Revised September 2010.)
  • Educators
  • Purchase

About The Authors

Robert S. Huckman

Technology and Operations Management
→More Publications

Michael E. Porter

→More Publications

More from the Authors

    • February 2025
    • Health Services Research

    Variation in Batch Ordering of Imaging Tests in the Emergency Department and the Impact on Care Delivery

    By: Jacob C. Jameson, Soroush Saghafian, Robert S. Huckman and Nicole Hodgson
    • January 2025
    • Faculty Research

    U.S. and Global Agriculture: The Next Four Years

    By: Forest Reinhardt, Sarah Dankens and Natalie Kindred
    • December 2024
    • Faculty Research

    Tropo Farms

    By: David E. Bell, Pippa Tubman Armerding, Namrata Arora and Natalie Kindred
More from the Authors
  • Variation in Batch Ordering of Imaging Tests in the Emergency Department and the Impact on Care Delivery By: Jacob C. Jameson, Soroush Saghafian, Robert S. Huckman and Nicole Hodgson
  • U.S. and Global Agriculture: The Next Four Years By: Forest Reinhardt, Sarah Dankens and Natalie Kindred
  • Tropo Farms By: David E. Bell, Pippa Tubman Armerding, Namrata Arora and Natalie Kindred
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Accessibility
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College.