2026 BAHM Case Competition

• Gain national and international recognition for the participating programs and for the students who compete
• Network with student and faculty peers from other select programs across the globe
• Interact with healthcare industry professionals who serve as judges, case developers, and competition sponsors, with the primary goal of benefitting the students and their respective programs
• Form academic-industry partnerships, identify internship/residency and future employment opportunities, and transfer knowledge from healthcare professionals to students and faculty

I learned about the [many] opportunities that Digital Health can contribute to improve the lives of the underserved. With today’s technological advancements, we can leverage the capabilities of our own smartphones to help millions of lives around the world and address issues and communities that were easily overlooked in the past.

Roni Steiner
Product Owner for the Point of Care Ultrasound Devices
MBA from IESE Business School (Class of 2021) and 2021 Case Competition participant

SEE INTERVIEWS WITH STUDENTS, JUDGES AND HOSTS FROM THE 2022 COMPETITION

Programs are invited to field their own team of 3 – 4 students. Program teams may include students from other graduate school programs within the BAHM-member school – including but not limited to MPP, MPA, MPH, MS – as long as at least one student represents an MBA program with a focus on healthcare management.

Here is the detailed case: BAHM Case Prompt

Here is a case summary:

The U.S. healthcare system has entered a new era of medical price transparency. Federal rules now require hospitals and health plans to publish detailed price information, including negotiated rates for common services. In addition, transparent pricing is integral to global markets for medical tourism and private concierge medicine is. However, despite the unprecedented availability of data, consumer engagement, access and education remains limited, and the promise of price transparency to reduce costs and improve decision-making has yet to be fully realized. Teams must design a business model, product concept, and go-to-market strategy that enable consumers to meaningfully use medical price transparency data when making healthcare decisions. The solution should address behavioral, technical, and economic barriers to adoption while demonstrating a credible pathway to national or global scale.

Students will be responsible for finding their own travel and accommodations to Washington DC and to be ready to meet on April 9 and April 10. The competition will take place at The Morning Consult conference facility located at: 1025 F St NW, Suite 800, Washington, DC 20004.  The address is closest to the Metro Center DC Metro stop in downtown Washington, DC.

• Teams RSVP by March 15 by completing this form.
• Teams submit report and presentation slide deck for judges review by Tuesday, March 31, 2026. Please upload the materials here.
• Teams will present their solutions to judges on the morning of Friday, April 10
• Judges will select three finalists to present their solutions to all judges and teams in a final round the afternoon of April 10.

The competition on Friday will be held in a hybrid-format. All teams are encouraged to participate in person, and a faculty advisor from each program is invited to accompany the team. Students participating virtually will do so synchronously.

• Team RSVP due: March 15, 2026
• Case report due: 6:00 p.m. Washington, DC time (EST), March 31, 2026
• Opening reception: Thursday, April 9, 6:30 p.m. EST
  • Announcement of semifinal group assignments and draw for order of semifinal presentations
  • Video tour of presentation rooms (if desired) at 8:00 p.m.
• Optional DC Health Policy Tour: April 9, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
  • Four site visits organized by TheHEAL Network including (likely from past HEAL field trips):
    • US Congress, Energy & Commerce Committee
    • Council of Economic Advisers, The White House
    • The World Bank (Health Unit)
    • Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
    • The Brookings Institution
    • Alliance for Health Policy

• Teams check in 7:00 a.m. EST Friday April 10 at The Morning Consult
• Competition begins 7:30 a.m.
• Semi-final rounds – 7:30 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.:
  • 7:30-7:50 a.m.—first set of teams
  • 8:00-8:20 a.m.—second set of teams
  • 8:30-8:50 a.m.—third set of teams
  • 9:00-9:20 a.m.—fourth set of teams
  • 9:30-9:50 a.m.—fifth set of teams. Teams will have photographs taken after their presentations

• Judges select finalists: 10:00 – 10:30 a.m.
• Lunch:  11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
• Announcement of finalists and draw for order of final presentation: 11:45 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
• Finalist presentations:  12:30 – 2:30 p.m.
• Judges select award winners:  2:30 – 3:00 p.m.
• Announcement of winners and presentation of awards:  3:00 – 3:30 p.m.
• Networking reception 3:30 – 4:30 p.m.

1. Team members may use any reference sources/materials in the public domain in conducting their research.
2. The team deliverables must be submitted by 5:59 p.m. EST, Tuesday, March 31, 2026 and uploaded here. All references and data must be fully cited. The submission e-platform for these deliverables will be accessed through a tool to be determined later.  To note, all deliverables must be anonymous; they should mention neither school affiliations nor team names.
3. The deliverables must include:

1. • Written business plan (maximum 10 pages, excluding exhibits)
   • Executive summary (1 page)
   • Pitch deck (10–12 slides). Appendix slides to support Q&A responses are permitted and do not count against the presentation slide limit.
   • Optional appendix with financials, mockups, or technical architecture

• Bernstein DN, Crowe JR. Price Transparency in United States’ Health Care: A Narrative Policy Review of the Current State and Way Forward. Inquiry. 2024 Jan-Dec;61 https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11129567/
• Transparency in Coverage Proposed Rule (CMS 9882-P), Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. December 15, 2025. https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/fact-sheets/transparency-coverage-proposed-rule-cms-9882-p
• R. Lawrence Van Horn, Arthur Laffer, Robert L. Metcalf. 2019. The Transformative Potential for Price Transparency in Healthcare: Benefits for Consumers and Providers. Health Management Policy and Innovation, Volume 4, Issue 3.
• Sag I, Zengul FD, Weech-Maldonado R. Competition in Medical Tourism and Consumer Spending: Evidence from Turkey’s Growing Healthcare Market. Tourism and Hospitality. 2025; 6(4):186. https://doi.org/10.3390/tourhosp6040186
• Parente ST. Estimating the Impact of New Health Price Transparency Policies. Inquiry. 2023 Jan-Dec;60:469580231155988. doi: 10.1177/00469580231155988. PMID: 36803142; PMCID: PMC9940230.
• Lunt, N., et al. (2011). Medical Tourism: Treatments, Markets and Health System Implications. Global Health Review. https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/documents/college-social-sciences/social-policy/hsmc/publications/2011/medical-tourism-scoping-review.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com
• Jiménez, C. (2026). Medical Tourism Cost Comparison by Country. MedicalTourism.com. https://www.magazine.medicaltourism.com/article/medical-tourism-cost-comparison-by-country?utm_source=chatgpt.com
• OECD (2020), “Health care prices”, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/bfc42344-en.
• Maleki N, Padmanabhan B, Dutta K. Usability of Health Care Price Transparency Data in the United States: Mixed Methods Study. J Med Internet Res. 2024 Mar 29. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11015359/
• Transparency in Coverage Schema, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. https://github.com/CMSgov/price-transparency-guide

Each team must develop a comprehensive business plan that includes:

1. Problem Definition and Target Population
2. Product or Service Description (e.g., app, platform, embedded benefit)
3. Data Strategy and Use of Price Transparency Data
4. Consumer Engagement and Behavioral Design
5. Revenue Model and Financial Sustainability
6. Partnerships and Distribution Strategy
7. Regulatory, Legal, and Ethical Considerations
8. Growth Strategy to Reach 5 Million Consumers by 2028
9. Risks, Limitations, and Mitigation Strategies

Scoring

• Report, Summary, and Slide Deck: 65%
• Presentation and question responses: 35%

Judging Criteria

• Strategic clarity and originality
• Feasibility and scalability of the business model
• Effective use of medical price transparency data
• Consumer engagement and behavioral insight
• Financial logic and sustainability
• Policy relevance and societal impact
• Quality of analysis and presentation

Judges from across the global health care industry will review each submission. The top scoring teams will be awarded prizes.

• First Place: $10,000 and the opportunity to submit a paper to Health Management, Policy and Innovation (HMPI.org)
• Second Place: $5,000
• Third Place: $2,500

• Papers should be based on students’ original work. Students can work with faculty to develop their plans.
• Not all schools can give academic credit for the competition. For those that do, requirements will be determined by the school and may take the form of independent studies, field projects, or other project-based coursework. It is up to the participating students to understand the requirements of their school at the outset of this competition.
• AI use:
  • Competition participants may use publicly available AI tools for idea generation, literature review, and slide construction.
  • All content generated by AI must be reviewed and verified by team members for accuracy and appropriateness.
  • AI may not be used to produce full analyses or presentations without student interpretation and critical thinking.
  • Plagiarism rules apply: AI outputs that include external sources must be properly cited.
  • Only publicly available or free versions of AI tools may be used.
  • At the end of the presentation, please include an AI disclosure statement briefly explaining how AI tools were used.