Carlson School team places 2nd at international healthcare case competition

Carlson School of Management students are performing on the global stage with a recent second-place finish at the annual Business School Alliance for Health Management (BAHM) Case Challenge for their vision of “the hospital of the future.”

More than 60 MBA students participated from universities based in Europe, India, Africa, Latin America, and North America including teams from Harvard, Wharton, and Yale. For the challenge, teams had to design a way to address the need for sustainable long-term care in underserved communities. This marked the first time since spring 2018 the Carlson School team placed in the top three spots of the case challenge, now in its second year of international competition.

Ikram Khan, ‘23 MBA; Ethan (Yu-Hsiang) Hung, ‘23 MBA; Erin Green ‘22 MHA; and Dan Muggee ‘22 MBA impressed the judges with their idea of an integrated health system for Jharkhand, India. Their plans focused on creating a network of community health workers to provide basic health services and education and refer more acute cases to specialty practitioners. 

“Our students faced tough competition from some of the top business schools in the country, but they rose to the challenge,” said Jessica Haupt, managing director of the Medical Industry Leadership Institute. “I’m so proud of their efforts. Innovative ideas like theirs are what will help shape the future of health and business.”

According to Professor Steve Parente, a former MILI director, these students join winning teams from the Carlson School in 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, and 2018 that earned three first-place and two second-place awards. "The quality of the students in this competition is really incredible and the problems being addressed inform critical future health care challenges," he said.

The students had several months to work on the project and presentation, which were reviewed and scored by health industry professionals from around the world. MILI Valuation Lab instructor Mike Finch and MILI Executive in Residence Archelle Georgiou mentored the students throughout the process.

Organizers announced the winners on April 8 during a hybrid event on the campus of Baylor University, the competition’s host. A Baylor team won first place.