Fertility Clinics Show How the Chain Model Can Improve Health Care

In a 2012 article in the New Yorker, Atul Gawande suggests that health care could benefit from the operational efficiency and management practices adopted by successful restaurant chains like the Cheesecake Factory. But given that the stakes are considerably higher in caring for patients than in serving the perfect burger or berry bliss cheesecake, there have concerns that the owners of chains in health care make profits a higher priority than patients’ best interests. For instance, recent research that has shown that chain ownership of nursing homes and dialysis clinics leads to worse quality care has lent weight to those fears.