Publications

    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

    Sue K, Rosenberg J, Weintraub R. Addressing Tanzania’s Health Workforce Crisis Through a Public-Private Partnership: The Case of TTCIH. Harvard Business Publishing. 2016.Abstract

    Set in rural Tanzania, this case traces the founding and development of the Tanzanian Training Centre for International Health (TTCIH) from the early 2000s through 2015. It begins with an overview of the political, socioeconomic, and epidemiological context of Tanzania, followed by a detailed description of the human resource for health crisis in Tanzania and the landscape of available health care training programs. The case then explores the origins and evolution of TTCIH, launched through a unique collaboration between private industry, a public health institute, local stakeholders and educators, and the Tanzanian Ministry of Health and Social Welfare. It describes the evolution of TTCIH as leaders strive to make it self-sustaining and responsive to Tanzania’s health workforce crisis. The case highlights the challenges of successfully integrating corporate management practices and values into a global health program and the role of strategic leadership to sustain TTCIH.

    Teaching Note available through Harvard Business Publishing.

    TTCIH Income and Number of Students, 2005–2013
    TTCIH Income and Number of Students, 2005–2013

    Learning Objectives: A productive class discussion will allow students to appreciate the challenges of designing sustainable, high-quality health training institutions in low-resource settings; the training and resources needed to support task shifting and to address health workforce shortages in health care delivery; and, the importance of maintaining a sound strategy for medical education programs in the midst of changing national health needs and the evolving medical education landscape.

    Keywords: Global health, public health, health care delivery, education, government, value creation, Human Resources for Health, health care, nongovernmental organizations, Public-Private partnerships, learning, revenue growth, organizational effectiveness

     

    Rosenberg J, Cole C, May M, Weintraub R. Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision in Nyanza Province, Kenya (Condensed Version). The Lancet Commission on Global Surgery. 2015.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. This is a condensed version of the case Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision in Nyanza Province, Kenya.

    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: This is a condensed version of the case Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision in Nyanza Province, Kenya.

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

    Madore A, Rosenberg J, Weintraub R. Electronic Medical Records at ISS Clinic Mbarara, Uganda. Harvard Business Publishing. 2012.Abstract

    This case traces the evolution of the medical records system at the Immune Suppression Syndrome (ISS) Clinic in Mbarara, Uganda. After providing some background on Uganda, its HIV epidemic, and the general rise of electronic medical records and software, it explains the history of the ISS Clinic and its service delivery model. ISS Clinic had used paper records to manage care, treatment, and reporting needs until it partnered with the University of California, San Francisco on research initiatives. In 2004 ISS Clinic became a global health initiative beneficiary and the outpatient antiretroviral therapy center of Mbarara Regional Hospital. Offering free treatment, patient enrollment jumped dramatically. The clinic's electronic Access database was unable to keep up. The clinic secured a grant to implement a new medical record system, and leaders struggled to convince the physicians and other stakeholders of its value. The most clinically-relevant pieces were slow to be put in place, and new Ministry of Health regulations posed minor setbacks. At the end of 2010, the clinic had seen nearly 21,000 patients. Clinic research had contributed to more than 20 peer-reviewed articles, but the long-term prospects for the database were unknown.

    Teaching Note available through Harvard Business Publishing.

    Screenshot of an Electronic Form in OpenMRS, ISS Clinic
    Screenshot of an Electronic Form in OpenMRS, ISS Clinic. Source: ISS Clinic. (Exhibit 12 from "Electronic Medical Records at ISS Clinic Mbarara, Uganda" case.)

    Learning Objectives: This case documents the evolution of medical records at an HIV/AIDS clinic in a resource-limited setting. A productive class discussion will allow students to appreciate what it takes to collect and systemize accurate health data for patient care and research, what it takes to implement an electronic medical system in a resource-limited setting, and the relationship between a health record system, clinical care, and public health.

    Keywords: Management and operations, HIV treatment, health research, health information systems

     

    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

    Park P, Bhatt A, Rhatigan J. The Academic Model for the Prevention and Treatment of HIV/AIDS. Harvard Business Publishing. 2011.Abstract

    This case traces the development of the Academic Model for the Prevention and Treatment of HIV/AIDS (AMPATH), and its founding organization, the Indiana University – Moi University (IU-MU) Partnership in Eldoret, Kenya. The case opens with a discussion of AMPATH’s new Home-Based Counseling and Testing Program (HCT) and its prospects for improving HIV care in Western Kenya. After providing some background on the general political, economic, and health situation in Kenya, it follows the development of the IU-MU Partnership from 1990 to 2000, its subsequent entry into HIV care services through AMPATH in 2001, and AMPATH’s rapid growth to become the largest provider of HIV services in Kenya. It then describes the organizational and operational characteristics of AMPATH and concludes with the organization wrestling with the opportunities and operational challenges that HCT presents.

    Teaching Note available through Harvard Business Publishing.

    AMPATH Center in Eldoret, Kenya
    AMPATH Center in Eldoret, Kenya. Source: Case writer. (Exhibit 12 in "The Academic Model for the Prevention and Treatment of HIV/AIDS " case.)

    Learning Objectives: To understand the development and design of a large scale HIV care program in a resource-limited setting and to examine how HIV treatment programs can effectively configure their services to provide maximum value to the populations they serve.

    Keywords: Service expansion, the role of academic medical centers, HIV treatment and prevention, home-based counseling and treatment

    Rosenberg J, Bohrer M, Rhatigan J. Iran’s Triangular Clinic. Harvard Business Publishing. 2011.Abstract

    This case traces the development and implementation of Iran’s Triangular Clinic, an innovative health care delivery program, from its beginning as a site for counseling HIV-infected individuals to an integrated facility offering comprehensive HIV, sexually transmitted disease (STD), and drug addiction treatment, care, and support. The case examines the need for such services among the marginalized population that the first clinic served within the historical, political, economic, and health context of Iran and, specifically, in Kermanshah province, where the project begins. The case raises the question of how the clinic model might be integrated into primary health care and replicated throughout the country as part of the Iranian Ministry of Health’s Integrated Health Program.

    Teaching Note available through Harvard Business Publishing.

    Triangular clinic model
    Triangular clinic model. Source: World Health Organization and Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, Best Practice in HIV/AIDS Prevention and Care for Drug Abusers: The Triangular Clinic in Kermanshah, Islamic Republic of Iran 2004, WHO: Cairo.

    Learning Objectives: To examine how health care delivery organizations can configure their services to deliver high value health care to the populations they serve and to understand methods to engage marginalized populations in order to increase their access to and demand for health services.

    Supporting Content: The sequel to this case is titled Scaling up Iran's Triangular Clinic.

    Keywords: Marginalized populations, comprehensive HIV prevention, harm reduction