Best Theory-Driven Empirical Paper Award for Research on Process Friction in Healthcare

A recent study, co-authored by Professor Subhankar Saha of Ahmedabad University’s Amrut Mody School of Management, that challenges a widely held assumption in healthcare that treatment decisions are shaped solely by patient needs, has been selected for the Best Theory-Driven Empirical Research Paper Award. The award will be presented at the Decision Sciences Institute 2025 Annual Conference in Orlando, themed “Revolutionizing Decision-Making: Technology and Human Collaboration”.

The paper, “Patients, Payors, and Procedures: Implications of Process Friction in Healthcare Delivery”, co-authored with Professor Sriram Thirumalai (Neeley School of Business, Texas Christian University) and Professor Sarang Sunder (Kelley School of Business, Indiana University), demonstrates how administrative frictions and payor rules systematically shape provider decisions and patient outcomes.

By analysing inpatient discharge data and using Medicare reforms as a natural experiment, the study shows that when process friction was lower, Medicare patients received more procedures, and when reforms increased friction, this procedural gap narrowed.

The recognition reflects a larger point that healthcare delivery is inseparable from the systems that govern it. As reforms and new models of care emerge, it is critical to ask how administrative processes influence decisions at the bedside. Research such as this opens pathways for designing healthcare systems that are efficient, equitable, and above all, centred on patient wellbeing.