Working Knowledge
Business Research for Business Leaders
COVID-19 Business Impact Center
Filter Results: (75) Arrow Down

Health Care and TreatmentRemove Health Care and Treatment →

New research on health care and treatment from Harvard Business School faculty on issues including corporate investment in community health, health care management, and ways to improve health care delivery.
Page 1 of 75 Results →

Private and Social Returns to R&D: Drug Development and Demographics

by Efraim Benmelech, Janice Eberly, Dimitris Papanikolaou, and Joshua Krieger

Research and development (R&D) by pharmaceutical firms focuses disproportionately on medical conditions afflicting the elderly. The proportion of R&D spending targeting older age groups is increasing over time. Even though these investments in R&D prolong life expectancy and improve quality of life, they have little effect on measured productivity and output growth.

Hospital Allocation and Racial Disparities in Health Care

by Amitabh Chandra, Pragya Kakani, and Adam Sacarny

Black Americans experience disparities in health outcomes in the United States relative to other demographic groups. This study of heart attack sufferers over two decades develops a framework to examine the allocation of health care and the effectiveness of medical treatments, including beta-blockers and other technologies.

Evaluating Innovative Health Care Solutions for Obesity

From Weight Watchers to bariatric surgery, innovations for combatting obesity abound. But which will do the most good for society and yield the best business results? Professor Regina Herzlinger discusses a new case study. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Many Small-Business Employees May Be Close to Losing Health Insurance

by Rachel Layne

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, Zoë Cullen, and Christopher Stanton. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Why American Health Care Needs Its Own SEC

by Regina E. Herzlinger

The United States needs a health care equivalent of the Securities and Exchange Commission to increase transparency and competition, argues Regina Herzlinger. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Can Shared Service Delivery Increase Customer Engagement? A Study of Shared Medical Appointments

by Ryan W. Buell, Kamalini Ramdas, and Nazlı Sönmez

Shared service delivery means that customers are served in groups rather than individually. Results from a large-scale study of glaucoma follow-up appointments at a major eye hospital indicate that shared service delivery can significantly improve patients’ verbal and non-verbal engagement.

It's Time for a Bipartisan Health Plan for Employers and Employees

by Regina E. Herzlinger and Richard J. Boxer

Regina E. Herzlinger and Richard J. Boxer prescribe a seemingly impossible cure for battling health care options: a plan that embraces both Republican and Democratic ideas. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Solving COVID'S Mental Health Crisis

by Howard Stevenson and Shirley Spence

COVID-19 affects more than physical health. Howard Stevenson and Shirley Spence describe how the pandemic is causing psychological trauma across a broad swath of society—and innovative methods to treat it. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

SmileDirect Looks Beyond Direct-to-Consumer Marketing

PODCAST: Teledentistry company SmileDirectClub is butting up against the limits of direct-to-consumer marketing. Len Schlesinger discusses his recent case study with Matt Higgins. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Social Interactions in Pandemics: Fear, Altruism, and Reciprocity

by Laura Alfaro, Ester Faia, Nora Lamersdorf, and Farzad Saidi

An analysis of 89 cities worldwide shows that mobility responds to infection risk, altruism, and reciprocity. Correcting the SIR model to account for this behavior shows that a balanced approach involving stringency measures, in respect of human dignity, and responsible social preferences mitigates the pandemic health and economic costs.

A Mass Crisis Can Overwhelm Health Care. Liberia Found a Solution.

by Rachel Layne

Liberia trains community workers to help medical professionals on the front lines of disease control, says Brian Trelstad. Could the model work elsewhere? Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Are Digital Organizations Better at Overcoming COVID?

by Danielle Kost

Experts from Harvard Business School's Digital Initiative discuss how technology is helping leading companies gain an edge during the coronavirus pandemic. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Paying It Backward and Forward: Expanding Access to Convalescent Plasma Therapy Through Market Design

by Scott Duke Kominers, Parag A. Pathak, Tayfun Sönmez, and M. Utku Ünver

Without a vaccine for COVID-19, the medical community has turned to a century-old therapy. This paper discusses a market design approach for expanding the collection and distribution of convalescent plasma.

In a Pandemic, What’s the Best Strategy for the Global Vaccine Alliance?

How should the vaccine alliance Gavi respond to the worldwide need for a cure for the COVID-19 pandemic? Tarun Khanna discusses his case study. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Rebates in the Pharmaceutical Industry: Evidence from Medicines Sold in Retail Pharmacies in the U.S.

by Pragya Kakani, Michael Chernew, and Amitabh Chandra

Retail pharmacy data illustrates it can be misleading to use list prices instead of net prices to understand pharmaceutical prices. Analysts and economists working in public policy should be extremely cautious in drawing policy conclusions based on list prices alone.

Spreading the Health: Americans' Estimated and Ideal Distributions of Death and Health(care)

by Sorapop Kiatpongsan and Michael I. Norton

Across varying political ideologies and income levels, Americans both underestimate the current extent of inequality of mortality and healthcare, and prefer each to be more equally distributed.

Demystifying the Math of the Coronavirus

by Elon Kohlberg and Abraham Neyman

This paper provides a conceptual model for the progression of COVID-19 that is somewhat imprecise but that’s very simple and easy to understand. By relying on this description, one can obtain a rough estimate of the impact of various social distancing measures on the rate of growth of new infections.

What South Korea Teaches the World About Fighting COVID

by Doug J. Chung

South Korea initially had the largest number of Coronavirus infections outside of China, but new cases have decreased sharply. What is the country doing right? asks Doug Chung. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Post-COVID Health Care: More Screens, Less Red Tape?

by Danielle Kost

The coronavirus pandemic might lead to major changes in patient care, physician compensation, and regulation. Experts from Harvard Business School's Health Care Initiative share their predictions. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Medicare for All or Public Option: Can Either Heal Health Care?

by Regina E. Herzlinger and James Wallace

A public insurance option could use its scale to hold prices down, but only if the approach avoids the financing gimmicks that are undermining Medicare, say Regina E. Herzlinger and James Wallace. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.