Health Care

Health Care is a featured research topic and an initiative at Harvard Business School.
 
Over the past several decades, HBS has built a foundation in health care research, from Clayton Christensen's application of disruptive innovations and Regina Herzlinger's concept of consumer-driven health care to Michael Porter's use of competitive strategy principles. Today our research focuses on 
  • how management principles and best practices from other industries can be applied;
  • how the process of innovation can be improved;
  • how principles of strategy and consumer choice can be utilized;
  • how information technology can expand access, decrease costs, and improve quality;
  • how new approaches in developing nations can impact global health.

Featured Works

 

  1. Case | HBS Case Collection | September 2020

    Merck: Covid-19 Vaccines

    Willy C. Shih

    Covid-19 infections were still climbing across the U.S. and many other parts of the world in September 2020, and it seemed that every time Ken Frazier, the CEO of Merck & Co. consented to an interview in recent months he always seemed to hear the same question, “Where’s Merck?” The company, a leader in the global vaccine business had a low public profile even though it was working assiduously on two vaccine candidates for the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes Covid-19. The U.S. Government had initiated a high profile program - Operation Warp Speed (OWS) - to accelerate the development of vaccines, but Merck was notably absent. Should Merck seek or accept funding from OWS, and what terms might accompany such an agreement?

    Keywords: Health Pandemics; Health Testing and Trials; Innovation and Management; Innovation Strategy; Technological Innovation; Business Strategy; Pharmaceutical Industry;

    Citation:

    Shih, Willy C. "Merck: Covid-19 Vaccines." Harvard Business School Case 621-028, September 2020.  View Details
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  2. Case | HBS Case Collection | September 2020

    Jan Swartz: Steering Princess Cruises Through the COVID-19 Crisis

    Boris Groysberg and Michael Norris

    In the summer of 2020, Jan Swartz, President of Princess Cruises, was persevering to lead her company back from the depths of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Diamond Princess, one of Princess Cruises’ 18 ships was the site of one of the earliest large outbreaks of COVID-19 outside of China. The outbreak led to hundreds of cases, at least a dozen deaths, media scrutiny, government investigations, and legal proceedings. In early March 2020, Swartz made the decision to pause all global operations of her company, the first cruise company to do so. Six months later, how could Princess Cruises restart operations safely and profitably?

    Keywords: Leadership; Leading Change; Crisis Management; Natural Disasters; Ship Transportation; Health Pandemics; Human Resources; Business Strategy; Gender; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Travel Industry; Tourism Industry; Japan; United States;

    Citation:

    Groysberg, Boris, and Michael Norris. "Jan Swartz: Steering Princess Cruises Through the COVID-19 Crisis." Harvard Business School Case 421-036, September 2020.  View Details
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  3. Working Paper | HBS Working Paper Series | 2020

    Uncovering Inequalities in Time-Use and Well-Being during COVID-19: A Multi-Country Investigation

    Laura M. Giurge, Ayse Yemiscigil, Joseph Sherlock and Ashley V. Whillans

    The COVID-19 global pandemic continues to alter how people spend their time, with possible downstream consequences for subjective well-being. Using diverse samples from the United States, Canada, Denmark, Brazil, and Spain (n = 30,018) and following a preregistered analytic plan, we find notable gender differences in time-use, with women and especially mothers spending more time on necessities such as childcare and household chores than fathers during the pandemic. We also provide longitudinal evidence that young women engaged in less active leisure in the initial weeks of COVID-19 compared to young men, and that these differences in active leisure predicted lower subjective well-being one month later (n = 924). Together, these data represent one of the most rigorous empirical investigations examining how time-use relates to well-being during the forced lockdowns created by the COVID-19 pandemic. By focusing on time—a critical but largely overlooked resource—these results point toward underexamined inequalities that policymakers and organizational leaders should carefully consider when designing policies now and post-COVID-19.

    Keywords: time-use; subjective well-being; COVID-19; Health Pandemics; Work-Life Balance; Gender; Equality and Inequality;

    Citation:

    Giurge, Laura M., Ayse Yemiscigil, Joseph Sherlock, and Ashley V. Whillans. "Uncovering Inequalities in Time-Use and Well-Being during COVID-19: A Multi-Country Investigation." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 21-037, September 2020.  View Details
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  4. Article | JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association | September 8, 2020

    Allocation of COVID-19 Relief Funding to Disproportionately Black Counties

    Pragya Kakani, Amitabh Chandra and Sendhil Mullainathan

    This study describes correlations between the dollar amount of relief funding authorized by the US Congress to fund prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and to reimburse health care entities for lost revenues, and county-level Black population fraction accounting for county COVID-19 burden, comorbidity, and hospital financial health.

    Keywords: COVID-19; Health Pandemics; Resource Allocation; Demographics; Race;

    Citation:

    Kakani, Pragya, Amitabh Chandra, and Sendhil Mullainathan. "Allocation of COVID-19 Relief Funding to Disproportionately Black Counties." JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association 324, no. 10 (September 8, 2020): 1000–1003.  View Details
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  5. Case | HBS Case Collection | September 2020

    Minerva 2020: Clinical Trials

    John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock

    In March 2020, Dr. Cynthia Bamdad, founder and CEO of Minerva Biotechnologies Inc. (Minerva), was reviewing the first results of human clinical trials for the company’s novel CAR-T drug therapeutic, one of the first ever to target solid cancer tumors. The results looked promising.
    CAR-T therapeutics were a new field attracting a lot of scientific interest. They involved genetically re-engineering a patient’s T-cells, a key element of the human immune system, to attack the cancer. The first CAR-T treatments for cancer were developed for the relatively small field of blood cancers, 7% of all cancers. For instance, early pioneer Kite Pharma Inc. (Kite) developed a treatment for a special type of lymphoma that only affected 7,500 patients a year. Still, the financial interest was huge, and Kite was acquired by Gilead Sciences Inc. in August 2017 for $11.9 billion. Similarly, Juno Therapeutics Inc. was acquired by Celgene Corporation for $9 billion in January 2018.
    Minerva’s therapeutics targeted 96% of all breast cancers and 46% of prostate cancers, a market that was orders of magnitude larger. After 21 years, Bamdad believed that Minerva was on the threshold of something really big.
    Should Bamdad sell the business and work within a larger organization? Or should she IPO and continue to develop the company’s long-term pipeline of therapeutics and diagnostics?

    Keywords: biotechnology; strategic decision making; Entrepreneurship; Health Testing and Trials; Decision Choices and Conditions; Strategy;

    Citation:

    Wells, John R., and Benjamin Weinstock. "Minerva 2020: Clinical Trials." Harvard Business School Case 721-391, September 2020.  View Details
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  6. Working Paper | HBS Working Paper Series | 2020

    Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T-Cell Therapy: Case Histories of Significant Medical Advances

    Amar Bhidé and Srikant M. Datar

    In 2017, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved an immunotherapeutic treatment, called CAR-T therapy, for two kinds of blood cancers—acute leukemia (ALL) and a lymphoma. We describe 1) how CAR-T works; 2) the foundational advances and discoveries; 3) development of CAR-T therapy; and 4) the situation in 2019.

    Keywords: immunotherapy; Health Care and Treatment; Innovation and Invention; Research and Development; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms;

    Citation:

    Bhidé, Amar, and Srikant M. Datar. "Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T-Cell Therapy: Case Histories of Significant Medical Advances." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 21-034, August 2020.  View Details
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  7. Article | American Psychologist | 2020

    COVID-19 and the Workplace: Implications, Issues, and Insights for Future Research and Action

    Kevin M. Kniffin, Jayanth Narayanan, Frederik Anseel, John Antonakis, Susan Ashford, Arnold B. Bakker, Peter Bamberger, Hari Bapuji, Devasheesh P. Bhave, Virginia K. Choi, Stephanie Creary, Evangelia Demerouti, Francis J. Flynn, Michele J. Gelfand, Lindred Greer, Gary Johns, Selin Kesebir, Peter G. Klein, Sun Young Lee, Hakan Ozcelik, Jennifer Louise Petriglieri, Nancy Rothbard, Cort W. Rudolph, Jason D. Shaw, Nina Sirola, Connie R. Wanberg, Ashley V. Whillans, Michael P. Wilmot and Mark van Vugt

    The impacts of COVID-19 on workers and workplaces across the globe have been dramatic. This broad review of prior research rooted in work and organizational psychology, and related fields, is intended to make sense of the implications for employees, teams, and work organizations. This review and preview of relevant literatures focuses on (a) emergent changes in work practices (e.g., working from home, virtual teamwork) and (b) emergent changes for workers (e.g., social distancing, stress, and unemployment). In addition, potential moderating factors (demographic characteristics, individual differences, and organizational norms) are examined given the likelihood that COVID-19 will generate disparate effects. This broad-scope overview provides an integrative approach for considering the implications of COVID-19 for work, workers, and organizations while also identifying issues for future research and insights to inform solutions.

    Keywords: COVID-19; work; work from home (WFH); Pandemics; Health Pandemics; Employees; Working Conditions; Organizational Change and Adaptation;

    Citation:

    Kniffin, Kevin M., Jayanth Narayanan, Frederik Anseel, John Antonakis, Susan Ashford, Arnold B. Bakker, Peter Bamberger, Hari Bapuji, Devasheesh P. Bhave, Virginia K. Choi, Stephanie Creary, Evangelia Demerouti, Francis J. Flynn, Michele J. Gelfand, Lindred Greer, Gary Johns, Selin Kesebir, Peter G. Klein, Sun Young Lee, Hakan Ozcelik, Jennifer Louise Petriglieri, Nancy Rothbard, Cort W. Rudolph, Jason D. Shaw, Nina Sirola, Connie R. Wanberg, Ashley V. Whillans, Michael P. Wilmot, and Mark van Vugt. "COVID-19 and the Workplace: Implications, Issues, and Insights for Future Research and Action." American Psychologist (2020).  View Details
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  8. Article | Nature Human Behaviour | 2020

    Why Time Poverty Matters for Individuals, Organisations, and Nations

    Ashley V. Whillans, Laura Giurge and Colin West

    Over the last two decades, global wealth has risen. Yet, material affluence has not translated into time affluence. Instead, most people today report feeling persistently “time poor”—like they have too many things to do and not enough time to do them. This is critical because time poverty is linked to lower well-being, physical health, and productivity. For example, in our analysis of 2.5 million Americans, subjective feelings of time poverty had a stronger negative effect on well-being than being unemployed. However, individuals, organisations, and policymakers often overlook the pernicious effects of time poverty. Billions of dollars are spent each year to alleviate material poverty, while time poverty is often ignored or exacerbated. In this Perspective, we discuss the organisational, institutional, and psychological factors that explain why time poverty is often under appreciated. We argue that scientists, policymakers, and organisational leaders need to devote more attention and resources toward understanding and reducing time poverty to promote psychological and economic well-being.

    Keywords: time poverty; Health; Welfare or Wellbeing; Human Needs; Global Range;

    Citation:

    Whillans, Ashley V., Laura Giurge, and Colin West. "Why Time Poverty Matters for Individuals, Organisations, and Nations." Nature Human Behaviour (2020).  View Details
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  9. Article | NEJM Catalyst Innovations in Care Delivery | September–October 2020

    The Past, Present, and (Near) Future of Gene Therapy and Gene Editing

    Julia Pian, Amitabh Chandra and Ariel Dora Stern

    Emerging gene therapy and gene-editing technologies will have a growing impact on patient lives and health-care delivery. We analyzed a decade of data on clinical trials and venture capital investments to understand the likely trajectory of genetically focused therapies in the years ahead. The number of clinical trials and venture capital deals increased substantially from 2006–2017. We observed particularly notable growth in both industry-sponsored trials and trials involving specialty fields of drug development, including oncology, neurology, hematology, ophthalmology, and neurology. As the number of gene-therapy and gene-editing technologies continues to grow, we expect that such therapies will have a significant and heterogeneous impact on health-care delivery, including a shifting of resources from chronic disease management to more intense acute episodic care, an increase in the complexity of required intellectual property and manufacturing know-how, and the potential expansion of biopharmaceutical companies into service-based business models.

    Keywords: gene therapy; gene editing; Impact; Health Care and Treatment; Technological Innovation; Health Testing and Trials; Venture Capital; Change;

    Citation:

    Pian, Julia, Amitabh Chandra, and Ariel Dora Stern. "The Past, Present, and (Near) Future of Gene Therapy and Gene Editing." NEJM Catalyst Innovations in Care Delivery 1, no. 5 (September–October 2020).  View Details
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  10. Case | HBS Case Collection | September 2020

    Tulsa Remote: Moving Talent to Middle America

    Prithwiraj Choudhury and Emma Salomon

    Tulsa Remote sought to attract a diverse group of remote workers to the city of Tulsa, Oklahoma—and was willing to put its money where its mouth was, offering $10,000 and a range of wraparound services for its program participants. After a successful pilot year, which saw the program select 100 participants out of more than 10,000 applicants, Tulsa Remote was excited to begin its second round of applications. However, the program faced an ongoing challenge attracting Black men to participate in the program. The team wondered what they could do to make their program—and their community—feel more welcoming. Meanwhile, as the second group of remote workers began making plans to move to Tulsa, the COVID-19 pandemic hit. How would the program deal with the effects of the pandemic, both on the local economy and on remote work in general?

    Keywords: remote work; relocation; Employment; Online Technology; Geographic Location; Programs; Employees; Diversity; Health Pandemics; Oklahoma; Tulsa;

    Citation:

    Choudhury, Prithwiraj, and Emma Salomon. "Tulsa Remote: Moving Talent to Middle America." Harvard Business School Case 621-048, September 2020.  View Details
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Initiatives & Projects

  • Health Care

    The Health Care Initiative serves as a gateway for health care research, educational programs, and collaboration across all sectors of the health care industry.

  • Social Enterprise

    The Social Enterprise Initiative at HBS applies innovative business practices and managerial disciplines to drive sustained, high-impact social change.

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Faculty

HBS Working Knowledge

PicPic
re B. Katherine Coffman and Andrei Shleifer
The pandemic presents a unique opportunity to investigate formation of beliefs about an unprecedented, widespread, and life-threatening event. One finding: COVID-19 makes the prospect of disease and
PicPic
re S. Leemore Dafny, B. Zoe Cullen and T. Christopher Stanton
Small-business owners have delayed rent payments and other bills to protect health benefits for employees. Now, financial pressure is mounting, according to research by Leemore Dafny, Yin Wei Soon, Z
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re E. Regina Herzlinger
The United States needs a health care equivalent of the Securities and Exchange Commission to increase transparency and competition, argues Regina Herzlinger.

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Harvard Business Publishing

Article
by Nitin Nohria
Case
by John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock

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