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
  • January 2017
  • Supplement
  • HBS Case Collection

Intrapreneurship at DaVita HealthCare Partners: Cash Flow Tool

By: Joseph B. Fuller and Christopher Payton
  • Format:Electronic
  • | Language:English
ShareBar

Abstract

DaVita Healthcare Partners Inc. (DaVita) is one of the U.S.'s leading dialysis providers, a process whereby persons with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) are connected to a machine that performs the functions of a healthy kidney. Kent Thiry, DaVita's CEO, has expanded the company's scope of activities since he first arrived in 1999. He initially focused on consolidating the company's dialysis business, which included acquiring the company's primary U.S. competitor, before expanding into related businesses such as pharmacy services for people with ESRD. In the 2010s, Thiry again broadened DaVita's scope by moving into primary care via the acquisition of Health Care Partners (HCP, a company that owned medical practices and health care facilities) and by forming Paladina Health (Paladina), a company that sells primary care services to self-insured employers. Thiry's strategic decisions reflect several considerations, including his belief that value- and performance-based reimbursement will become the norm in the U.S. health care system, a commitment to extending DaVita's ability to execute on its mission, and DaVita being excessively reliant on a single medical condition for revenue. The latter concern is partially explained by DaVita running out of logical growth vehicles within kidney care/dialysis (i.e., there are no more sizeable competitors or companies to buy) and, in the longer term, the potential reduction in ESRD patients due to innovations in the treatment of the underlying problems (e.g., diabetes) that lead to ESRD.

Keywords

Intrapreneurship; Entrepreneurial Organizations; Startup Management; Startup; Strategic Planning; Strategic Positioning; Corporate Strategy; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Corporate Strategy; Business Startups; Strategic Planning; Competitive Strategy; Health Industry; United States

Citation

Fuller, Joseph B., and Christopher Payton. "Intrapreneurship at DaVita HealthCare Partners: Cash Flow Tool." Harvard Business School Spreadsheet Supplement 317-703, January 2017.
  • Purchase

About The Author

Joseph B. Fuller

General Management
→More Publications

More from the Authors

    • Harvard Business School Working Knowledge

    Why a Blended Workforce May Be Key to Lasting Competitive Advantage

    By: Joseph B. Fuller
    • November–December 2020
    • Harvard Business Review

    Rethinking the On-Demand Workforce

    By: Joseph B. Fuller, Manjari Raman, Allison Bailey and Nithya Vaduganathan
    • 2020
    • Faculty Research

    Building the On-Demand Workforce

    By: Joseph B. Fuller, Manjari Raman, Allison Bailey and Nithya Vaduganathan
More from the Authors
  • Why a Blended Workforce May Be Key to Lasting Competitive Advantage By: Joseph B. Fuller
  • Rethinking the On-Demand Workforce By: Joseph B. Fuller, Manjari Raman, Allison Bailey and Nithya Vaduganathan
  • Building the On-Demand Workforce By: Joseph B. Fuller, Manjari Raman, Allison Bailey and Nithya Vaduganathan
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
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College