About Hessam
His recent projects, based on econometric analysis and stochastic models, have focused on innovative technologies and service delivery models (e.g., telemedicine), people-centric and behavioral factors that affect performance (e.g., fatigue), healthcare resource management (e.g., panel sizing), and quality management (e.g., pharmaceutical manufacturing). His research has been published in academic journals such as Management Science, Operations Research, Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, Production & Operations Management, Journal of Operations Management, Journal of Health Economics, and Annals of Family Medicine.
He is currently serving as a Department Editor for Decision Sciences. He is also an Associate/Senior Editor for Management Science, Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, Production & Operations Management, and Health Care Management Science.
Professor Bavafa received his Ph.D. and master’s degrees in Operations Management from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in 2014. He also holds a master’s degree in Operations Research from the Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia, and a bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering from the Sharif University of Technology.
He has worked with leading healthcare organizations such as the University of Pennsylvania Health System, the Provincial Health Services Authority of British Columbia, Veterans Health Administration, University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics, and British Columbia Children’s Hospital. He held a visiting position as Senior Innovation Strategist at the Penn Medicine Center for Health Care Innovation. He is also a moderator for the Health & Wellness Stream of the Creative Destruction Lab, which is a nonprofit organization focused on scalable, seed-stage, science- and technology-based startups.
Professor Bavafa teaches Business Analytics at the Wisconsin School of Business.
Selected Published Journal Articles
Bavafa, H. & Jónasson, J. (2024). The Distributional Impact of Fatigue on Performance Management Science
Bavafa, H. & Mukherjee, A. & Welch, T. (2023). Inequality in the golden years: Wealth gradients in disability-free and work-free longevity in the United States Journal of Health Economics
Soltani, S. & Batt, R. & Bavafa, H. & Patterson, B. (2022). Does What Happens in the ED Stay in the ED? The Effects of Emergency Department Physician Workload on Post-ED Care Use Manufacturing & Service Operations Management
Canamucio, A. & Bavafa, H. & Marcus, S. & Terwiesch, C. & Werner, R. (2022). Capacity Rationing in Primary Care: Provider Availability Shocks and Care Channel Diversion Management Science
Bavafa, H. & Örmeci, L. & Savin, S. & Virudhachalam, V. (2022). Surgical Case-Mix and Discharge Decisions: Does Within-Hospital Coordination Matter? Operations Research
Bavafa, H. & Savin, S. & Terwiesch, C. (2021). Customizing Primary Care Delivery Using E-Visits Production and Operations Management
Bavafa, H. & Jónasson, J. (2021). Recovering from Critical Incidents: Evidence from Paramedic Performance Manufacturing & Service Operations Management
Bavafa, H. & Jónasson, J. (2021). The Variance Learning Curve Management Science
Sinsky, C. & Bavafa, H. & Beasley, J. & Roberts, R. (2021). Standardization vs Customization: Finding the Right Balance Annals of Family Medicine
Bavafa, H. & Örmeci, L. & Savin, S. (2019). Managing Portfolio of Elective Surgical Procedures: A Multidimensional Inverse Newsvendor Problem Operations Research
Bavafa, H. & Terwiesch, C. (2019). Work after Work: The Impact of New Service Delivery Models on Work Hours Journal of Operations Management
Bavafa, H. & Liu, J. & Mukherjee, A. (2019). Building Financial and Health Literacy at Older Ages: The Role of Online Information Journal of Consumer Affairs
Bavafa, H. & Savin, S. & Terwiesch, C. (2019). Managing Patient Panels with Non-Physician Providers Production and Operations Management
Bavafa, H. & Mukherjee, A. (2019). The Burgeoning Health Care Needs of Aging Prisoners American Economic Association: Papers and Proceedings
Bavafa, H. & Hitt, L. & Terwiesch, C. (2018). The Impact of E-Visits on Visit Frequencies and Patient Health: Evidence from Primary Care Management Science
Puterman, M. & Zhang, Y. & Aydede, S. & Palmer, B. & MacLeod, S. & Bavafa, H. & MacKenzie, J. (2013). If You’re Not Keeping Score, You’re Just Practising: A Lean Healthcare Program Evaluation Framework Healthcare Quarterly
Soltani, S. & Batt, R. & Bavafa, H. Quality Improvement Spillovers: Evidence from the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program Management Science
Ball, G. & Bavafa, H. & Blanco, C. & Park, H. & Wowak, K. Gender and Serious Drug Recalls: A Textual Sentiment Analysis of Drug Reviews on WebMD Production and Operations Management
Selected Submitted Journal Articles
Bavafa, H. & Blanco, C. & Noh, I. (2021). Quality-Speed Trade-off in Pharmaceutical Review
Undergraduate Courses
Business Analytics I (BUS 365), Fall 2014.
Business Analytics I (BUS 365), Spring 2015.
Business Analytics I (BUS 365), Fall 2015.
Business Analytics I (BUS 306), Fall 2016.
Business Analytics I (BUS 306), Fall 2017.
Business Analytics I (BUS 306), Fall 2018.
Business Analytics I (BUS 306), Fall 2019.
Business Analytics I (BUS 306), Fall 2020.
Business Analytics I (BUS 306), Fall 2022.
Development of quantitative intuition through practical applications and use of analysis tools. Specifically, emphasis will be on how to manage, summarize, explore, and visualize databases. The essentials of probability will be introduced and applied to decision problems where there is uncertainty. Emphasis on hypothesis testing and regression analysis and include an introduction to simulation methods. Throughout, attention will be paid to effective communication of data analysis. The use of business cases will connect the course material to both real world settings and recent advances in data analysis, including big data and data mining.
Professional Organizations
Mack Institute for Innovation Management
Production and Operations Management Society (POMS)
Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences
Manufacturing and Service Operations Management Society
Leonard Davis Institute for Health Economics
Editorial and Reviewing Activities
Decision Sciences – Since January 2023
Editor
Manufacturing & Service Operations Management – Since May 2022
Associate Editor
Production and Operations Management – Since January 2022
Associate Editor
Service Science – Since January 2022
Ad Hoc Reviewer
Management Science – Since January 2021
Associate Editor
Decision Sciences – Since January 2020
Ad Hoc Reviewer
Health Care Management Science – Since January 2020
Associate Editor
Decision Sciences – January 2020 – December 2023
Associate Editor
Operations Research – Since January 2020
Ad Hoc Reviewer
BMJ Open – Since January 2018
Ad Hoc Reviewer
Naval Research Logistics – Since January 2018
Ad Hoc Reviewer
IIE Transactions on Healthcare Systems Engineering – Since January 2018
Ad Hoc Reviewer
Journal of Operations Management – Since January 2017
Ad Hoc Reviewer
Production and Operations Management – Since January 2015
Ad Hoc Reviewer
Socio-Economic Planning Sciences – Since January 2015
Ad Hoc Reviewer
Manufacturing & Service Operations Management (M&SOM) – Since January 2014
Ad Hoc Reviewer
Management Science – Since January 2014
Ad Hoc Reviewer
Popular Media
- Forward Thinking Faculty Blog.
- Wisconsin School of Business News (2015).
- @BavafaTerwiesch.
Meet More Operations and Information Management Faculty
Bipin Karunakaran
Peter Commons
Enno Siemsen
