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
  • August 2017
  • Case
  • HBS Case Collection

Infection Control at Massachusetts General Hospital (Abridged)

By: Robert S. Huckman and Nikolaos Trichakis
  • Format:Print
  • | Language:English
  • | Pages:14
ShareBar

Abstract

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 different departments within the hospital, namely the Emergency Department, the Infection Control Unit, and Admission Services. Students are initially asked to assess the operational, financial, and clinical implications of the new policy. They are then asked to examine different approaches to its implementation. Objective: The case allows readers to examine a setting where internal coordination across different departments provides significant aggregate benefits for an organization. Coordination in this case, however, also leads to inequitable allocation of costs and benefits across the different departments, which then provides students with an opportunity to explore various implementation challenges and strategies.

Keywords

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

Citation

Huckman, Robert S., and Nikolaos Trichakis. "Infection Control at Massachusetts General Hospital (Abridged)." Harvard Business School Case 618-018, August 2017.
  • Educators
  • Purchase

About The Author

Robert S. Huckman

Technology and Operations Management
→More Publications

More from the Authors

    • February 2023
    • Faculty Research

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

    By: Ariel Dora Stern, Robert S. Huckman and Sarah Mehta
    • January–February 2023
    • Operations Research

    Forecasting COVID-19 and Analyzing the Effect of Government Interventions

    By: Michael Lingzhi Li, Hamza Tazi Bouardi, Omar Skali Lami, Thomas Trikalinos, Nikolaos Trichakis and Dimitris Bertsimas
    • 2022
    • JACC: Advances

    Investigating the Association Between Telemedicine Use and Timely Follow-Up Care After Acute Cardiovascular Hospital Encounters

    By: Mitchell Tang, A Jay Holmgren, Erin E. McElrath, Ankeet S. Bhatt, Anubodh S. Varshney, Simin Gharib Lee, Muthiah Vaduganathan, Dale S. Adler and Robert S. Huckman
More from the Authors
  • The Brigham and Women’s Hospital Innovation Hub: Driving Internal Innovation By: Ariel Dora Stern, Robert S. Huckman and Sarah Mehta
  • Forecasting COVID-19 and Analyzing the Effect of Government Interventions By: Michael Lingzhi Li, Hamza Tazi Bouardi, Omar Skali Lami, Thomas Trikalinos, Nikolaos Trichakis and Dimitris Bertsimas
  • Investigating the Association Between Telemedicine Use and Timely Follow-Up Care After Acute Cardiovascular Hospital Encounters By: Mitchell Tang, A Jay Holmgren, Erin E. McElrath, Ankeet S. Bhatt, Anubodh S. Varshney, Simin Gharib Lee, Muthiah Vaduganathan, Dale S. Adler and Robert S. Huckman
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