Publications
Publications
- February 24, 2022
- Harvard Business School Working Knowledge
Want to Prevent the Next Hospital Bed Crisis? Enlist the SEC
By: Regina E. Herzlinger and Richard Boxer
Abstract
During the initial phases of the COVID-19 pandemic, many U.S. hospitals could not provide enough beds to meet demand. Solving the problem of inadequate capacity is of utmost importance in the “new normal,” which requires recognizing the ongoing need for hospital-based care for viral diseases.
Past attempts to avoid bed shortages by sharing capacity have generally failed, in part, because of the persistence of an independent hospital culture. As COVID-19 surged in 2020, capacity varied widely even among hospitals in the same city, according to data from 189 hospitals and 224 intensive care units (ICUs) studied by the University of Minnesota. For example, while one of the two largest hospitals in Spokane County, Washington, was 92 percent occupied, the other was only 30 percent full. Hospital administrators could help alleviate capacity problems by creating surge capacity plans for their institutions within individual and community networks. But they have not done so to date.
Past attempts to avoid bed shortages by sharing capacity have generally failed, in part, because of the persistence of an independent hospital culture. As COVID-19 surged in 2020, capacity varied widely even among hospitals in the same city, according to data from 189 hospitals and 224 intensive care units (ICUs) studied by the University of Minnesota. For example, while one of the two largest hospitals in Spokane County, Washington, was 92 percent occupied, the other was only 30 percent full. Hospital administrators could help alleviate capacity problems by creating surge capacity plans for their institutions within individual and community networks. But they have not done so to date.
Keywords
COVID; COVID-19 Pandemic; Hospital Capacity; SEC Regulation; Health Pandemics; Crisis Management; Performance Capacity; Planning
Citation
Herzlinger, Regina E., and Richard Boxer. "Want to Prevent the Next Hospital Bed Crisis? Enlist the SEC." Harvard Business School Working Knowledge (February 24, 2022).