Ingrid Nembhard

Ingrid Nembhard
  • Fishman Family President's Distinguished Professor
  • Professor of Health Care Management
  • Professor of Management (Organizational Behavior)

Contact Information

  • office Address:

    3641 Locust Walk
    207 Colonial Penn Center
    Philadelphia, PA 19104

Research Interests: organizational behavior, organizational learning, teamwork and coordination, implementation, quality improvement

Overview

Ingrid M. Nembhard, Ph.D., M.S., is the Fishman Family President’s Distinguished Professor, Professor of Health Care Management, and Professor Management with a focus on Organizational Behavior at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Prior to joining the faculty at The Wharton School, she was the Ira V. Hiscock Tenured Associate Professor at the Yale School of Public Health, Associate Professor at Yale School of Management, Associate Director of the Health Care Management Program at Yale, and Director of the Yale Training Program in Health Services Research.

Professor Nembhard’s research focuses on how characteristics of health care organizations, their leaders, and staff contribute to their ability to implement new practices, engage in continuous organizational learning, and ultimately improve quality of care. She uses qualitative and quantitative research methods to examine health care delivery from provider and patient perspectives, and to evaluate organizational performance. She is currently studying leadership and psychological safety in teams, organizational learning from different types of experiences, the use of patient feedback via narratives to drive quality improvement by clinicians and administrators, the contributors to high performance in challenging work environments, and the implementation of care coordination in primary care groups, including the effects on patients and clinicians. She was the recipient of the 2023 Mid-Career Achievement Award from the Academy of Management’s Health Care Management Division.

Professor Nembhard received her Ph.D. in Health Policy and Management, with a concentration in Organizational Behavior from Harvard University through a joint program between Harvard Business School and the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. She received her M.S. in Health Policy and Management from Harvard University School of Public Health, and her B.A. in Ethics, Politics and Economics and in Psychology from Yale University.

Continue Reading

Research

Current research projects (a sample):

  • leadership and psychological safety in teams (for psychological safety survey scales that I have used, see below)
  • organizational learning from different types of experiences in health care delivery
  • the use of patient feedback via narratives to drive quality improvement by clinicians and administrators
  • the contributors to high performance in challenging work environments
  • the implementation of care coordination in primary care groups, including the effects on patients and clinicians

Past research projects (a sample):

  • the influence of leadership, organizational climate and learning strategies on the success of improvement projects conducted in hospital units
  • the antecedents and consequences of organizational learning in the context of quality improvement collaboratives
  • the implementation of evidence-based practices in hospitals
  • the role of staff voice and psychological safety in health care improvement
  • the impact of national quality improvement campaigns on hospital processes and patient outcomes

Psychological Safety Scales

    1. Nembhard, I. M. and A. C. Edmondson. 2006. “Making it Safe: The Effects of Leader Inclusiveness and Professional Status on Psychological Safety and Improvement Efforts in Health Care Teams.” Journal of Organizational Behavior 27(7):941-66. (alpha = .73)
    • If you make a mistake in this NICU, it tends to be held against you. (R)
    • People in this unit are comfortable checking with each other if they have questions about the right way to do something.
    • The people in our NICU value others’ unique skills and talents.
    • Members of this NICU can bring up problems and tough issues
    2.
    • It is easy to speak up about what is on my mind.
    • If I make a mistake in this ICU, it is often held against me. (R)
    • I am able to bring up problems and tough issues.
    • I am comfortable checking with others if I have questions about the right way to do something.

  • Lawton R. Burns, Ingrid Nembhard, Stephen Shortell (2022), Integrating Network Theory into the Study of Integrated Healthcare, Social Science & Medicine, 296 (), p. 114664.

    Abstract: Healthcare policy in the United States (U.S.) has focused on promoting integrated healthcare to combat frag- mentation (e.g., 1993 Health Security Act, 2010 Affordable Care Act). Researchers have responded by studying coordination and developing typologies of integration. Yet, after three decades, research evidence for the benefits of coordination and integration are lacking. We argue that research efforts need to refocus in three ways: (1) use social networks to study relational coordination and integrated healthcare, (2) analyze integrated healthcare at three levels of analysis (micro, meso, macro), and (3) focus on clinical integration as the most proximate impact on patient outcomes. We use examples to illustrate the utility of such refocusing and present avenues for future research

Teaching

All Courses

  • HCMG8600 - Leading HC Orgs

    This course aims to improve enrollees' ability to effectively manage and lead health care organizations (HCOs, including hospitals, medical groups, insurers, biopharmaceutical firms, etc.). The course is designed to integrate previous course work in general managment, health care, and health policy to further participants' understanding of organizational, managerial, and strategic issues facing HCOs and the health care workforce. The course will provide participants with a foundation for developing, implementing, and analyzing efforts to improve HCOs' performance. A major objective of the course is to sharpen the leadership, problem-solving, and presentation skills of those who aim to hold operational and strategic positions in health care organizations. Another objective is to introduce enrollees to leading HCOs. Through case studies, readings, in-class exercises and class discussions, particpants will learn analytic frameworks, concepts, tools and skills necessary for leading and managing organizational learning, quality improvement, innovation, and overall performance in HCOs.

  • HCMG8990 - Independent Study

    Arranged with members of the Faculty of the Health Care Systems Department. For further information contact the Department office, Room 204, Colonial Penn Center, 3641 Locust Walk, 898-6861.

  • HCMG9040 - Sem in Obt in Healthcare

    This course introduces students to organizational behavior and theory (OBT) by examining key issues in OBT, different perspectives on key issues, and how OBT informs health services research and practice. This course examines "micro" theories (i.e., social psychological theories of organizational behavior) and "macro" theories (i.e., theories focused on the structural and environmental aspects of organizations). We will examine the strengths and weaknesses of various theories, how they can be used as a foundation for research, methods used to study them, and the implications for health policy and management. Examples of published health services research grounded in OBT will be discussed so that students become familiar with the theories-in-use and various publication outlets for health care management (HCM) research.

Awards and Honors

Research-Related Honors:

  • Mid-Career Achievement Award, Health Care Management Division, Academy of Management (2023)
  • Best Paper Proceedings of the 2023 Academy of Management Meeting (Top 10% of submissions) (2023)
  • Runner-Up, Best Paper Award, Health Care Management Division, Academy of Management (2023)
  • Runner-Up, Best HCM Theory to Practice Paper Award, Academy of Management (2023)
  • Runner-Up, Best Paper Award, Health Care Management Division, Academy of Management (2022)
  • Best Paper Proceedings of the 2022 Academy of Management Meeting (Top 10% of submissions) (2022)
  • Harvard University, T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Herbert Sherman Memorial Lecture (2022)
  • Runner-Up, Best Paper in Innovation and Entrepreneurship Research Stream, Industry Studies Association Conference (2018)
  • Best Poster Award, Organizational Behavior and Management, AcademyHealth Meeting (2018)
  • Runner-Up, Best Paper Award, Health Care Management Division, Academy of Management (2018)
  • Best Paper, Health Care Management Division, Academy of Management (2017)
  • Best Paper Proceedings of the Academy of Management Meeting (Top 10% of submissions) (2018. 2017, 2016, 2015, 2013, 2010)
  • Finalist, KSG Best Paper Award, Annual Interdisciplinary Entrepreneurship Conference (G-Forum) (2014)
  • Best Abstract, Science of Quality Improvement, AcademyHealth Meeting (2012)
  • Finalist, ISA-INFORMS Best Industry Studies Paper Award, Industry Studies Association (2011)
  • Runner-Up, Health Care Management Division Best Paper Award, Academy of Management (2011)
  • Most Outstanding Abstracts, Organizational Performance and Measurement, AcademyHealth Meeting (2009)
  • Best Positive Organizational Scholarship (POS) Paper Award, Center for Positive Organizational Scholarship (POS), Stephen M. Ross School of Business, University of Michigan (2008)
  • Alfred P. Sloan Industry Studies Dissertation Award, First Prize (2007)
  • Best Paper Based on a Dissertation, Health Care Management Division, Academy of Management (2007)
  • Harvard Business School Wyss Award for Excellence in Doctoral Research (2006)

 

Teaching-Related Honors

  • Teaching Excellence Award, The Wharton School (2019, 2021, 2022, 2023)
  • E-MBA Class of 2016 Faculty Teaching Award, Yale School of Management (2016)
  • E-MBA Class of 2014 Faculty Teaching Award, Yale School of Management (2014)
  • Nominee/Finalist, Teacher of the Year, Yale School of Public Health (2013, 2009)
  • Highest Overall Course Ranking, Yale School of Public Health (2012)
  • Teacher of the Year, Yale School of Public Health (2010)

    In the News

    Knowledge at Wharton

    Wharton Stories

    Activity

    Latest Research

    Lawton R. Burns, Ingrid Nembhard, Stephen Shortell (2022), Integrating Network Theory into the Study of Integrated Healthcare, Social Science & Medicine, 296 (), p. 114664.
    All Research

    In the News

    How COVID-19 Changed the World

    Wharton professors look back at how COVID-19 upended our lives five years ago, impacting business and the economy in lasting ways.…Read More

    Knowledge at Wharton - 3/11/2025
    All News

    Wharton Magazine

    How COVID Changed the World
    Wharton Magazine - 04/15/2025

    Wharton Stories

    Ingrid NembhardProf. Ingrid Nembhard Discusses Team Dynamics in Health Care Coordination

    A panelist at the 2018 Penn Health Policy Retreat, Health Care Management Prof. Ingrid Nembhard discussed her new research on how a new role for nurses may be one way to address care coordination failures in health care. …

    Wharton Stories - 03/30/2018
    All Stories