On behalf of the editorial team – Regina Herzlinger, Kevin Schulman, Lawrence Van Horn, and myself – I am delighted to welcome you to the second issue of Volume 5 of HMPI. We are proud to publish a set of new articles that contribute to HMPI’s core goal: drawing from the research and experience of scholars and practicing leaders to advance healthcare and health systems.
In this issue of HMPI, the authors report their research, insights, and case studies on a fascinating set of topics.
- Camelia Ilie, Ramiro Casó, Guillermo Cardoza, Andrés Fernández of the INCAE Business School and the Universidad de Costa Rica report their study of workforce well-being in Latin America.
- Navid Asgari and Will Mitchell of Fordham University and the University of Toronto highlight implications of the emerging trend toward integration of specialty pharmacies, healthcare insurers,, and pharmaceutical benefit managers that is transforming the role of value chain integrators in the U.S. pharmaceutical ecosystem.
- Andrea Prado, Benjamin Gallo Marin, and Ramiro Casó from the INCAE Business School in Costa Rica and the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University in the U.S. describe the intriguing case of Speratum, Inc., a Costa Rican start-up focusing on a therapy for pancreatic cancer. The article describes the challenges of launching a science-based venture in an emerging market and the strategies that Speratum is using to overcome the challenges.
- Markus Saba, Kati Schy, and Daniella Kapural of University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill highlight the way that high deductible health plans are affecting people with diabetes, particularly the low-income population, and suggest key changes that will overcome current barriers to access, efficiency, and health outcomes.
- Aaron Baird, Andrew Sumner, and Yusen Xia of Georgia State University identify barriers to adopting electronic clinical quality measurement automation by U.S. hospitals and identify solutions to overcoming the barriers.
- Pinar Karaca-Mandic, Ralph Hall, and Kimberly Choyke of the University of Minnesota report on the opioid crisis among Minnesota’s Native American and African American populations, highlighting positive steps toward solving the crisis.
- And Stacy Wood and Kevin Schulman of North Carolina State University and Stanford University highlight a new case, in which Amazon’s Alexa offers innovative potential to help a hospital launch a new capitated-care program.
Although covering multiple geographies and a varied set of points along the healthcare and life sciences value chain, the articles have a common theme. All thoughtful leaders want their healthcare systems to achieve a strong balance of cost-effectiveness, broad-based access, and high-quality outcomes. Every health system faces systemic barriers to achieving this challenging three-part goal. Rather than give up the pursuit of the goal, thoughtful pathways exist to achieving important improvements. The articles in this issue of HMPI provide relevant tools and ideas for traveling along these pathways.
As always, the authors of the articles that we publish in HMPI are committed to improving management practices in health systems around the world. We welcome your comments about the ideas that the articles spark and your ideas for subsequent articles. Please send us your comments to info@hmpi.org. We also welcome discussion on the BAHM Forum on LinkedIn, the BAHM LinkedIn page and on Twitter .
If you have an idea that you would like to explore for HMPI, please send an outline of your article to our editorial team at info@hmpi.org.
Will Mitchell
Professor of Strategic Management
Anthony S. Fell Chair in New Technologies and Commercialization
Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto