Lawton Burns - Faculty Research in Knowledge@Wharton

The Road to China: Fresh Insights into the World's Fastest-growing Economy

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 17:18:52 EST

Earlier this year, Harbir Singh, Wharton’s vice-dean for Global Initiatives, launched a series of trips to foreign countries as a way for faculty to gain a deeper understanding of international economies and then use this knowledge in their teaching and research. Six professors recently visited the Chinese cities of Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, and met with executives from Lenovo, Haier and Huawei, among other companies. Knowledge@Wharton asked three of the participants – Singh, management professor Saikat Chaudhuri and health care management professor Rob Burns – to share insights from their trip.

Information Technology: Not a Cure for the High Cost of Health Care

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 17:08:51 EST

Advocates and policymakers often argue or assume that applying a new form of information technology (IT) will save money and improve the quality of health care. But there are some who are not so certain, especially about IT's cost-cutting promise. One Wharton professor argues that IT could actually raise costs because of culture clashes, training, the implementation of the systems and the labor required to maintain the new technology.

Podcast: Lawton Burns on the Critical, and Costly, Role of Companies that Make Healthcare-related Products

Wed, 17 May 2006 15:28:37 EST

Lawton Burns is a professor of health care systems and management, director of the Wharton Center for Health Management and Economics, and author of a new book entitled, The Business of Healthcare Innovation. While much has been written about doctors and hospitals, government regulations and medical insurance issues, Burns' book looks at an area of healthcare that has not gotten much attention -- the producers of healthcare products, ranging from pharmaceuticals and biotechnology to medical devices and information technology. Yet Burns would argue that a focus on the producer side of the healthcare equation is critical -- not just because we are increasingly more reliant on medical technology, but also because of the ever escalating costs of advances in these areas. Burns talked to Knowledge@Wharton's Mukul Pandya and Robbie Shell about the issues raised in his new book.

The Business of Healthcare Innovation: How New Products Come to Market

Wed, 03 May 2006 15:07:25 EST

When Lawton Robert Burns, Wharton professor of health care systems, began teaching healthcare management, he found a hole in the academic literature. There was plenty of material on physicians, hospitals, government regulations and insurance. But there was no single source of good information on a key component of the industry -- the producers of healthcare products. Burns aims to fill that gap with his new book, The Business of Healthcare Innovation. The book focuses on four sectors -- pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, medical devices and information technology -- and looks at the internal and external factors at work in determining whether a new pill or new pacemaker ends up in the hands of patients and doctors.

Why Bush and Kerry are Wrong on Health Care

Tue, 19 Oct 2004 05:21:18 EST

Though health care has taken a backseat to Iraq and the economy in this year's presidential campaign, the two candidates have put forth detailed - and vastly different - proposals to solve the three broad issues facing American health care consumers: mushrooming cost, inadequate availability and uneven quality. Yet Wharton health care experts doubt either candidate's plan could be enacted as proposed - or would lick all those problems if it were. Here is what they suggest instead.

Employers Step up Enlistment of Employees in Battle against Health Care Costs

Wed, 28 Jul 2004 12:53:59 EST

Though still rising at double-digit rates, health care premium increases are easing a bit, allowing employers some breathing room to explore long-term strategies to rein in medical spending. Much of the slowdown is due to a typical insurance underwriting cycle, but employers have also shifted costs to employees and are emphasizing wellness programs and consumer-driven plans as part of their cost-cutting drive, according to Wharton faculty and health benefits experts.

Can Aventis Fight Off Its Hostile Suitor?

Wed, 25 Feb 2004 15:03:40 EST

Sanofi-Synthelabo’s hostile $58 billion bid to acquire its French pharmaceutical rival Aventis has roused European markets and French pride. Even though the merger could cost thousands of French workers their jobs, the deal appears to have the blessing of government officials who hope to breed – or at least preserve – a national champion in the high-profit pharmaceuticals sector. Aventis, however, is fighting back, hoping that a White Knight will come to its rescue.

From Skin Creams to Life Insurance to Medical Care, Biosciences Are the New Frontier of Business Opportunity

Wed, 27 Feb 2002 00:00:00 EST

In the brave new world of biosciences, new developments in genomics, bioinformatics and proteomics have the potential to dramatically affect such industries as pharmaceuticals, medical care, agriculture, life insurance, consumer products and information technology. How can companies capitalize on these advances when many managers don�t even understand the terminology used to describe them?

Prescription Drug Coverage for Seniors Faces Uncertain Future

Wed, 10 Oct 2001 00:00:00 EST

Less than a year ago, in the heat of the presidential campaign, it seemed almost certain that Medicare would undergo a major transformation that would provide prescription drug coverage to the program�s 40 million seniors. But that was before an economic slowdown and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Now there are new, more urgent priorities and it�s unclear just when the debate over drug coverage will again get underway.

The Patient Died: A Post-mortem on America�s Largest Nonprofit Health Care Failure

Thu, 20 Jan 2000 16:54:39 EST

When the Allegheny Health, Education, and Research Foundation (AHERF) declared bankruptcy on July 21, 1998, it left behind $1.3 billion in debt, 65,000 creditors and enough bile to blanket the East coast. The bankruptcy meant the dismantling of the largest statewide integrated delivery system in Pennsylvania and the layoffs of thousands of health care employees. It also called into question a strategy - popular among academic medical centers in the mid-1990s � of acquiring, at almost any cost, physicians, researchers and medical facilities in order to corner a market that has turned out to be remarkably elusive. In an article entitled, �The Fall of the House of AHERF: The Allegheny Bankruptcy,� Wharton professor Robert Burns and three colleagues analyze the developments behind Allegheny�s spectacular rise and equally spectacular fall.

Can Opposites Attract?

Wed, 04 Aug 1999 13:54:07 EST

Health maintenance organizations have been in the spotlight in the U.S. lately because of debates over patients' rights and rising health-care costs. A related issue is the role of integrated health systems, which promised to deliver more cost-effective health care solutions. A decade after such systems were created, however, few have delivered on that promise. What went wrong? Wharton's Lawton R. Burns offers some solutions.