The Harvard Contest That's Trying to Improve Health Care Delivery

Richard G. Hamermesh; Robert S. Huckman; Barbara  McNeil; Joseph P. Newhouse; Cara  Sterling

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Article | Harvard Business Review (website) | October 2, 2015

The Harvard Contest That's Trying to Improve Health Care Delivery

by Richard G. Hamermesh, Robert S. Huckman, Barbara McNeil, Joseph P. Newhouse and Cara Sterling

Format: Electronic

Citation:

Hamermesh, Richard G., Robert S. Huckman, Barbara McNeil, Joseph P. Newhouse, and Cara Sterling. "The Harvard Contest That's Trying to Improve Health Care Delivery." Harvard Business Review (website) (October 2, 2015). (As part of Measuring Costs and Outcomes in Health Care, a collaboration of the editors of Harvard Business Review and the New England Journal of Medicine.)

About the Authors

Richard G. Hamermesh

MBA Class of 1961 Professor of Management Practice, Retired

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Robert S. Huckman

Albert J. Weatherhead III Professor of Business Administration
Unit Head, Technology and Operations Management

Technology and Operations Management

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View Publications »

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Case | HBS Case Collection | September 2020

Walmart Health: Scaling During a Pandemic

Robert S. Huckman, Yoonjin Min and Marissa Thiel

Amidst the onset of COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, Marcus Obsborne, Vice President for Health and Wellness Transformation at Walmart was planning to scale its new health care clinic business, Walmart Health, to additional locations in Georgia and beyond. Walmart Health aimed to differentiate its offerings from those of competing retail clinics, most notably by offering a wider range of sevices including visits with primary care physicians, dentists, and behaviroal health specialists. Osborne wondered how the pandemic might affect the growth of Walmart Health. How quickly and where should the clinics scale across the country? What services should Walmart Health offer to address broader gaps in public health exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic? Finally, how could Osborne and his team prove the value proposition of Walmart Health to both customers and the leadership of Walmart?

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Health Pandemics; Health; Health Industry; United States; Arkansas; Georgia (state, US); Texas;

Citation:
Huckman, Robert S., Yoonjin Min, and Marissa Thiel. "Walmart Health: Scaling During a Pandemic." Harvard Business School Case 621-061, September 2020. View Details

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Exercise | September 2013 (Revised September 2020)

Process Analytics Simulation: Solutions

Robert S. Huckman, Aizan Radzi, Willy Shih, Roy D. Shapiro and Michael W. Toffel

A set of exercises and instructions to be used with the Process Simulator software made by Pro Model. These exercises allow students to investigate the impact of variable processing times on the performance of simple in-line processes. Includes color exhibits.

Keywords: Operations; Business Processes; Performance; Measurement and Metrics;

Citation:
Huckman, Robert S., Aizan Radzi, Willy Shih, Roy D. Shapiro, and Michael W. Toffel. "Process Analytics Simulation: Solutions." Harvard Business School Exercise 614-029, September 2013. (Revised September 2020.) View Details

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Case | HBS Case Collection | November 2016 (Revised August 2020)

Improving Access at VA

Ryan W. Buell, Robert S. Huckman and Sam Travers

In 2015, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) ran the largest healthcare system in the United States, with over 1,700 sites of care that served nearly 9 million veterans. One year earlier, a scandal had erupted over a cover-up of the excessive wait times veterans faced to get medical appointments in some VA facilities. The fallout led to the resignation of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, a criminal investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the eventual replacement of 14 of VA’s top 17 leaders. This case documents the efforts of the new leadership team to improve access, regain trust, and transform the organization to address the broadening medical needs of the nation's growing veteran population.

Keywords: Service Operations; Service Delivery; Social Issues; Health Care and Treatment; Government Administration; Performance Improvement; Public Administration Industry; Health Industry; United States;

Citation:
Buell, Ryan W., Robert S. Huckman, and Sam Travers. "Improving Access at VA." Harvard Business School Case 617-012, November 2016. (Revised August 2020.) View Details

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The Harvard Contest That's Trying to Improve Health Care Delivery

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About the Authors

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