Kermit is back in school! But not what you think; Kermit is the subject of a case study authored by Harvard Business School and being taught this semester at the Haas School of Business at the University of California Berkeley.
Sitting at a unique intersection of business and healthcare with data and analytics at the operational core and an aggressive nationwide growth plan following award-winning local success, the Kermit story was identified as a prime learning opportunity for the next generation of business leaders.
The case study was developed over a multi-month period featuring interviews with Kermit senior staff, clients, and industry experts. When the case study was first brought to a classroom at Berkeley Haas in Associate Professor Matthew Grennan’s Data Analytics class, Kermit Co-Founder and CEO Rich Palarea joined the class via video conference to answer questions and listen to their feedback.
“It’s truly an honor to have Kermit as the subject of a case study at these great institutions, and I was extremely impressed with the work and insights provided by the Berkeley Haas students,” said Palarea. “Working in a niche part of healthcare and solving an issue that most people outside of the industry do not know exists, it can be difficult to understand our work at Kermit. It was clear that the Berkeley Haas students did their research and had a fantastic grasp of the problem and our solution.”
The Kermit case study is currently available for purchase on the Harvard Business Publishing Education website for use at other colleges and universities.
Matt Grennan, Ph.D. leads his class through the Kermit case study and Rich Palarea joins the discussion remotely.
Why Kermit & Data Analytics?
Kermit is healthcare’s first cloud-based spend management application for implantable medical devices. When a surgery involving an implantable device is performed at a Kermit client hospital, the manufacturer’s sales representative submits their itemized bill sheet through CaseSnap®, Kermit’s HIPAA-secure digital app.
From there, each case is evaluated using Kermit’s customized business rules to identify potential issues related to pricing, utilization, and waste. Kermit’s team of expert PPI analysts resolve and reconcile utilization and pricing issues, preventing the hospital from paying more than its contractual obligations. Kermit’s technology also identifies trends in wasted items for further action.
Kermit has reviewed more than 120,000 cases across 23 different surgical categories consisting of 750,000 different parts from 140 device manufacturers. This amount of data allows Kermit to present to clients a level of analytic detail that they would not have without Kermit’s proprietary software and processes.
HBS Professor Kyle R. Myers; Professor Matthew Grennan (Haas School of Business, University of California Berkeley); and Case Researcher Sarah Mehta (Case Research & Writing Group) prepared the case. It was reviewed and approved before publication by a company designate. Funding for the development of this case was provided by Harvard Business School and not by the company. HBS cases are developed solely as the basis for class discussion. Cases are not intended to serve as endorsements, sources of primary data, or illustrations of ineffective management.