Publications

    Hashimoto K, Rhatigan J. Chagas Disease Vector Control in Honduras. Harvard Business Publishing. 2017.Abstract

    This case describes how the Honduran Ministry of Health developed and implemented a Chagas disease control program with the assistance of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and others from 2003 to 2012. After providing background information about Honduras and Chagas disease, the case examines the work of the Guatemalan Ministry of Health and JICA to implement a Chagas disease control program that provided the template for the program in Honduras. The case then describes the adaptation of this model for the Honduran context, including details of the surveillance model and vector control interventions. The case concludes with the program considering how it would maintain its success in spite of decreased funding and changes in leadership.

    Teaching Note available through Harvard Business Publishing.

    Chagas vector chart
    Main vector species of Chagas disease in Central America. Source: Biblioteca Virtual en Salud de Honduras.

    Indoor residual spraying
    Training community members for indoor residual spraying in the first trial in Intibucá 2004. Source: Case writers.

    Learning Objectives: A productive class discussion will allow students to appreciate strategies in control of neglected tropical diseases; Chagas disease vector control and surveillance; the role of bilateral cooperation to strengthen health systems management; and how regional disease control initiatives are implemented locally.

    Keywords: Information management, scale-up, health care policy, public administration, government policy, resource-limited settings, data-collection

    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

    Arnquist S, Weintraub R. loveLife: Preventing HIV Among South African Youth. Harvard Business Publishing. 2011.Abstract

    This case describes the strategy of the nongovernmental organization (NGO), loveLife, to prevent HIV among South African youth in the face of the world’s largest HIV epidemic, youth culture in post-apartheid South African, and a national government hostile to HIV/AIDS programs. The case traces loveLife from its inception and rapid scale up in 1999 to 2005, when loveLife lost one-third of its operating budget after the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (Global Fund) chose not to renew its second phase of funding. This case documents loveLife’s strategy in scaling up and sustaining delivery of HIV prevention services at scale. A short, optional case coda describes loveLife’s restructuring and positioning after the Global Fund crisis up to 2009.

    Teaching Note available through Harvard Business Publishing.

    Examples of loveLife media. Source: loveLife.
    Examples of loveLife media. Source: loveLife. (Exhibit 10 from "loveLife: Preventing HIV Among South African Youth" case.)

    Learning Objectives: To learn the application of strategic thinking in HIV prevention using Michael Porter’s “Five Tests of a Good Strategy” and to understand the organizational changes required in transitioning from scaling up to operating at scale.

    Supporting Content: This case has a supplementary summary of history and next steps titled loveLife: preventing HIV among South African youth (Part B). There is also an additional sequel, loveLife: Transitions After 2005.

    Keywords: Demand generation, scale up, sustaining delivery at scale, HIV prevention among youth, strategy, stigma

    Arnquist S, Weintraub R. loveLife: Preventing HIV among South African youth (Part B). Harvard Business Publishing. 2011.Abstract

    This case describes the strategy of the nongovernmental organization (NGO), loveLife, to prevent HIV among South African youth in the face of the world’s largest HIV epidemic, youth culture in post-apartheid South African, and a national government hostile to HIV/AIDS programs. The case traces loveLife from its inception and rapid scale up in 1999 to 2005, when loveLife lost one-third of its operating budget after the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (Global Fund) chose not to renew its second phase of funding. This case documents loveLife’s strategy in scaling up and sustaining delivery of HIV prevention services at scale. A short, optional case coda describes loveLife’s restructuring and positioning after the Global Fund crisis up to 2009. 

    Teaching Note available through Harvard Business Publishing.

    HIV Incidence among 15-20-year-old South Africans, 2002-2008. Source: Rehle T, Hallett T, Shisana O, et al. A Decline in New HIV Infections in South Africa: Estimating HIV Incidence from Three National HIV Surveys in 2002, 2005 and 2008. PloS one. 2010;5(6):e11094. (Exhibit 2 from "loveLife: preventing HIV among South African youth" case.)
     

     

    Learning Objectives: To learn the application of strategic thinking in HIV prevention using Michael Porter’s “Five Tests of a Good Strategy” and to understand the organizational changes required in transitioning from scaling up to operating at scale.

    Supporting Content: This case is the supplement to loveLife: Preventing HIV Among South African Youth.

    Keywords: Demand generation, scale up, sustaining delivery at scale, HIV prevention among youth, strategy, stigma

    May M, Rhatigan J. BRAC’s Tuberculosis Program: Pioneering DOTS Treatment for TB in Rural Bangladesh. Harvard Business Publishing. 2011.Abstract

    This case examines the development of a tuberculosis (TB) treatment program in Bangladesh by the non-governmental organization, BRAC, from 1984 to 2006. After providing background about Bangladesh, the burden of TB there, and BRAC, the case examines how this program was piloted and grew to cover a population of 80 million people. It details how BRAC was able to create a TB control program that utilized community health workers to perform most of its essential functions including case finding, directly-observed therapy, identification of complications, and record keeping. The case concludes with a brief summary of BRAC’s expansion to Afghanistan and recently, Africa, and asks the reader to consider the feasibility of this TB care model in other contexts and in other conditions, such as HIV/AIDS.

    Teaching Note available through Harvard Business Publishing.

    Timeline of BRAC TB Program Expansions
    Timeline of BRAC TB Program Expansions. Source: From One to Many: Scaling Up Health Programs in Low-Income Countries. Edited by Richard A Cash, A Mushtaque R. Chowdhury, George B. Smith, and Faruque Ahmed (2010). Ch 13. Islam A and May MA. Decentralized Management in the Expansion of BRAC's Rural Tuberculosis Program (DOTS). Pgs. 207-214. (Exhibit 3 in "BRAC’s Tuberculosis Program: Pioneering DOTS Treatment for TB in Rural Bangladesh" case.)

    Learning Objectives: To understand effective strategies for effectively engaging community health workers to deliver complex medical and public health interventions to large populations in low resource settings.

    Supporting Content: The sequel to this case is titled Tuberculosis in Dhaka: BRAC’s Urban TB Program.

    Keywords: Community health workers, tuberculosis control, rural nongovernmental organizations, social enterprise