Investigating Roemer’s Law: Would Increased Hospital Capacity Drive Higher Utilisation?

Set in August 2024, the case describes the task Cindy Chua, a Senior Data Analyst at a large public hospital in Singapore, has on hand. She was tasked to forecast the hospital’s growth capacity in the next few decades. As she worked on a dataset of inpatient discharges at selected general hospitals in Singapore from 1987 to 2024, she pondered two pertinent questions: (1) Has opening new hospitals in Singapore resulted in an overall increase in hospital inpatient utilisation? (2) What impact does increased hospital capacity have on the relative utilisation of existing hospital inpatient facilities? In her analysis, she investigates whether Roemer’s Law applies to Singapore and how it might impact a hospital’s long-term capacity growth.

Through this case, students will gain a better understanding of key healthcare system concepts and the historical trends in hospital utilisation, and they will develop practical skills in addressing unstructured healthcare system problems while being introduced to the idea of unintended consequences of healthcare initiatives.

Instructors can teach this case in senior undergraduate and postgraduate classes focusing on healthcare analytics in an information system degree.

Inspection copies and teaching notes are available for university faculty. To receive an inspection copy and teaching note, please email cmpshop@smu.edu.sg with your registered faculty email ID and a link to your contact information on the faculty directory at your university as verification. An inspection copy and teaching note will then be sent to your faculty email account.

Download information

SMU Faculty/Staff can download the case & teaching note on iNet with your SMU login ID & Password via the following links:

·      The Case (SMU-24-0033)

·      Teaching Note (SMU-24-0033TN)

·      Case Supplement (SMU-24-0033)

For purchase of the case and supplementary materials via The Case Centre, please access the following links:

·      The Case (SMU-24-0033)

·      Teaching Note (SMU-24-0033)

·      Case Supplement (SMU-24-0033)

For purchase of the case and supplementary materials via Harvard Business Publishing, please access the following links:

·      The Case (SMU-24-0033)

·      Teaching Note (SMU-24-0033)

·      Case Supplement (SMU-24-0033)