Publications

    Rosenberg J, Ahmad I, Weintraub R. Eradicating Smallpox: Delivery Strategies to Reach the Last Mile. 2022.Abstract

    In this teaching case, Dr. William Foege - the former director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention who many credit with eradicating smallpox - helps readers understand what it took to eradicate it. The case gives background information on the disease, as well as earlier immunization efforts, and describes how the social, political, and economic complexities of India impacted public health initiatives. As international endeavors to fight smallpox expanded in the 1960s, India continued to account for a disproportionate percentage of new cases. Cases remained high until a more organized and targeted strategy in the 1970s increased staffing, improved reporting, boosted vaccination rates, and expanded national and international resources. Specific national and local strategies, a coordinated and centralized decision making structure, and an understanding of and clear communication with the population were crucial to the nation’s success. The state of Bihar was the most challenging state to address, with cases remaining stubbornly high. A final campaign intensified surveillance, containment, and vaccination efforts in Bihar, and the Global Commission for the Certification of Smallpox Eradication declared India smallpox-free in 1977. The case ends with Dr. Foege wondering what lessons from smallpox eradication in India can be applied to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as future threats.

    Learning Objectives:

    This case documents the eradication of smallpox in India. A productive class discussion will allow students to appreciate the following:

    • The role of power dynamics in global health
    • The role of data and the importance of measuring the right outcome to inform program management 
    • Human resource management and its relationship to stakeholder management
    • The relationship between disease presentation and public health strategy and decision-making
    • How to build on what is known in confronting new contexts, diseases, and environments

    Exhibit 5a Decade in Which Smallpox Ceased to be Endemic by Country

    Keywords: India, public health, pandemic response, vaccine delivery, workforce management, collaboration, multilateral engagement

     

    Rosenberg J, Dreisbach T, Donovan C, Weintraub R. Positive Outlier: Sri Lanka’s Health Outcomes over Time. Harvard Business Publishing. 2018.Abstract

    This case describes the development and structure of Sri Lanka’s health system, which has yielded health outcomes far superior to any of its South Asian neighbors. The case highlights factors supporting the health outcomes, including the availability of free health services to all citizens, government investment in the health workforce, and the care-seeking behavior of Sri Lankan citizens. After providing an overview of Sri Lanka’s history, geography, demographics, and economy, the case traces the evolution of the public sector health system from the precolonial era through the period of heavy investment in health from the 1930s through 1950s and on into the 21st century. The case describes the management of the system and the relationship between the national health ministry and provincial and local governments. It examines how health professionals are trained and deployed throughout the system, the supply chain, and financing. The case then examines the growing private health sector, its relationship with the public sector, and the role of innovation. After a summary of the country’s health outcomes, readers are pushed to think about what it will take to address the changing epidemiological burden to continue to boast exemplary health outcomes and provide quality health care to those who need it.

    ​​​​​​Teaching Note available to registered faculty through Harvard Business Publishing or the Case Centre.

    A productive class discussion will allow readers to appreciate the capabilities of a public payer system to improve the health of the population; the influence of the private sector in a “single payer system” and the downstream effects on demand and supply of services; the return on investment for a country offering free public medical and nursing education; and the relationship between literacy, demand generation, and health outcomes.

    Keywords: Universal health care, health care delivery, health system, health outcomes, social determinants of health.

    Cuneo CN, Rosenberg J, Madore A, Weintraub R. Improving Mental Health Services for Survivors of Sexual Violence in the DRC. Harvard Business Publishing. 2017.Abstract

    This case explores the implementation and evaluation of mental health treatment for victims of conflict-related gender-based violence (GBV) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) by the International Rescue Committee (IRC), a humanitarian organization based in New York City. Following the contextual background, the case traces the IRC’s work developing a psychosocial support program for GBV survivors starting in 2002. When the Applied Mental Health Research Group (AMHR) at Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health evaluates the program in 2008, the IRC begins to consider the potential for its work to inform similar interventions. In 2011, the IRC team collaborated with AMHR to implement two concurrent randomized control trials (RCTs): one on the mental health effects of Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) and the other on the mental health and financial impact of a social and economic empowerment intervention called the Village Savings and Loans Association (VSLA). While the time and resources that went into completing the trials expanded the monitoring and evaluation capacity within the IRC and added important evidence to the lean body of global mental health literature, conducting the studies stretched the IRC’s local staff thin and required clarification of priorities and purpose. Had the RCTs had been worth it, and for whom? How could the study findings contribute to improving services for vulnerable populations in the region and beyond? 

    Teaching Note available through Harvard Business Publishing.

    Theory of Change
    Source: Study of Effectiveness of a Social-Economic Intervention for Sexual Violence Survivors in Eastern DRC, November 2014.

    Theory of Change 2
    Source: Group Cognitive Processing Therapy: A Specialized Mental Health Intervention that Supports Improvements in Well-being for Sexual Violence Survivors. Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, International Rescue Committee.

    Learning Objectives: A productive class discussion will allow students to appreciate the challenge of meeting human resource needs to provide mental health care, the complexity of implementation and empirical study of mental health services, and the ethics and challenges of conducting randomized controlled trials in conflict settings.

    Keywords: public health, human resources, health care delivery, information management, mental health, scale-up, resource-limited settings, health care policy, data collection, public administration

    Madore A, Rosenberg J, Weintraub R. Project ECHO: Expanding the Capacity of Primary Care Providers to Address Complex Conditions. Harvard Business Publishing. 2017.Abstract

    This case takes place in the United States (US) and traces the inception and growth of Project Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes (Project ECHO)—a web-based "guided practice" model for primary care providers—from 2003 to 2016. After providing background on the US health system, including medical education, health care financing, and the supply and distribution of primary care and specialist providers, the case explores what motivated Project ECHO founder and liver specialist Sanjeev Arora, MD to train primary care providers in rural New Mexico in hepatitis C treatment and management. It describes early replication of the ECHO model in the US and across medical conditions and what the Project ECHO model entailed—including leveraging technology to expand access to specialty resources, best practices, case-based learning, and outcome monitoring, as well as good will among participants. A professional communications campaign, ongoing research, and persistence supported Project ECHO’s growth. The case displays three dimensions of Project ECHO’s early work: creating a new mode to redistribute the expertise of specialists to primary care practitioners, scaling this new care delivery model and measuring its impact, and identifying sustainable funding sources. The case concludes with the US Congress passing the ECHO Act to promote research on the model and Arora contemplating what else he might need to continue to scale to reach his goal of touching 1 billion lives.

    Teaching Note available through Harvard Business Publishing. 

    TeleECHO Clinic - hub and spoke
    TeleECHO Clinic. Source: Case writers.

    ECHO Institute
    ECHO Institute. Source: Case writers.

    Learning Objectives: To understand what is needed to design a service model; the potential for redistribution of expertise among practitioners to enhance value; the role of operational effectiveness in enabling scale up; and the importance of measuring impact for stakeholders.

    Keywords: Public health, health care delivery, scale-up, resource-limited settings, human resource, information technology, primary care, information management, data collection, mentorship

    Rosenberg J, Cole C, May M, Weintraub R. Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision in Nyanza Province, Kenya. Harvard Business Publishing. 2012.Abstract

    This case traces the development of the voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) campaign in Nyanza Province, Kenya as it transformed from the subject of a randomized clinical trial into national policy. After providing some background on the cultural, political, and scientific context surrounding male circumcision, the case traces the PEPFAR-funded implementers' advances in delivering male circumcision in Nyanza. It examines the various delivery models used in Nyanza and the evolution of the relationship between implementers as well as on the development of the national strategic plan for VMMC released in 2009. The case ends with the implementers having come together successfully for two rapid, aggressive, 30-day implementation campaigns and the head of Kenya's National AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections Control Programme wrestling with how to make such campaigns sustainable and what lessons from the campaign to pass on to the national program.

    Teaching Note available through Harvard Business Publishing.

    Mobile Service Delivery Model
    (A) Group counseling on male circumcision; (B) mobile circumcision counseling site; and (C) circumcision being conducted in tented delivery site. Source: Nyanza Reproductive Health Society.

    Learning Objectives: To understand how a randomized controlled trial may be translated into a large-scale public health program; how a surgical campaign was designed and implemented for rapid impact; the role of national and international collaboration in large-scale health delivery; and the ethical tradeoffs that arise in large-scale public health programs.

    Supporting Content: There is a shorter version of this case titled Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision in Nyanza Province, Kenya (Condensed Version).

    Keywords: Project management, AIDS, policy, supply and demand, partnerships, strategy, innovation