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

Senior Fellow, MBA Class of 1961 Professor of Management Practice, Retired

Entrepreneurial Management

View Profile »
View Publications »

Robert S. Huckman

Albert J. Weatherhead III Professor of Business Administration
Chair, MBA Required Curriculum

Technology and Operations Management

View Profile »
View Publications »

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Case | HBS Case Collection | October 2018 (Revised April 2019)

The Brigham and Women's Hospital Innovation Hub: Driving Internal Innovation

Ariel D. Stern and Robert S. Huckman

Keywords: healthcare; innovation; hospital; health; health care;

Citation:
Stern, Ariel D., and Robert S. Huckman. "The Brigham and Women's Hospital Innovation Hub: Driving Internal Innovation." Harvard Business School Case 619-026, October 2018. (Revised April 2019.) View Details

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Case | HBS Case Collection | October 2016 (Revised March 2019)

Carrum Health: Scaling Bundled Payments

Robert S. Huckman and Sarah Mehta

Founded in 2014, Carrum Health helped self-insured employers located in three markets (San Diego, California; Seattle, Washington; and San Francisco, California) save money on their employees’ planned surgeries. It did so by contracting directly with top-quality hospitals located within the area, and negotiating a set fee (known as a bundled payment) for each of five common surgical procedures: knee replacement, hip replacement, cervical spinal fusion, lumbar spinal fusion, and coronary bypass. By 2016, the company was growing steadily and saving its clients over 40% on average on these five procedures.
In September 2016, Sachin Jain, Carrum’s CEO, received an email from North Beach Apparel, a large retailer based in San Francisco with a growing presence near Chicago, Illinois and Columbus, Ohio. North Beach was ready to partner with Carrum, but the terms of the deal required Carrum to enter the Chicago and Columbus markets in order to serve all North Beach employees. The deal would significantly increase Carrum’s revenue and begin to move the entrepreneurial venture closer to profitability. However, by expanding to Chicago and Columbus, the young company ran the risk of spreading itself too thin, especially given the opportunity for growth in Carrum’s current three markets. But Jain knew that if he waited too long to expand geographically, Carrum might lose its first-mover advantage in several markets. With limited resources, Jain needed to decide how to scale his young company: should Carrum enter the Chicago and Columbus markets with a guaranteed initial client base and then focus on selling the existing five bundles to new customers there; or, should the company add new bundles to its product line through the existing provider networks in the three markets it currently served?

Keywords: health financing; health insurance; value-based healthcare reimbursements; bundled payments; innovation; Scale; Health; Health Care and Treatment; Cost Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Decision Choices and Conditions; Health Industry; California; San Francisco; San Diego; Seattle;

Citation:
Huckman, Robert S., and Sarah Mehta. "Carrum Health: Scaling Bundled Payments." Harvard Business School Case 617-017, October 2016. (Revised March 2019.) View Details

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Case | HBS Case Collection | April 2018 (Revised September 2018)

Impact Investing for Cancer

Richard G. Hamermesh and Matthew G. Preble

It is early 2018, and Emily Park, managing director of impact for the Abreu Family Office, is meeting the next day with Tomás and Maria Abreu to discuss the various ways in which the Abreus can allocate a planned $100 million to make a meaningful difference in cancer patients’ lives. Park has spent the past few months working on this project and has uncovered a multitude of options, from supporting high-performing disease-focused organizations through venture philanthropy; to investing in a fund or directly into ventures and possibly earning a good return on investment in the process; to helping address system-wide issues such as the better organization and funding of clinical trials. As she prepares to present her findings to the Abreus, she wonders which one(s) will spark their interest as the way to have the most meaningful impact, and what implications their ultimate decision will have on the Family Office in terms of its capital outlays, structure, staffing, and many other categories.

Keywords: impact investing; Investment; Health Disorders; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Decision Choices and Conditions;

Citation:
Hamermesh, Richard G., and Matthew G. Preble. "Impact Investing for Cancer." Harvard Business School Case 818-068, April 2018. (Revised September 2018.) View Details

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

Citation:

About the Authors

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