Presentation by Anupam Ghosh, PhD, India Institute of Technology Kharagpur; introduced by Dr. Jane Fedorowicz, Chester B. Slade Professor of Accounting and Information Systems

In India, healthcare is provided through a three-tier system. Most of the diseases are curable at the hospitals at the base level. Lesser number of people contract complex diseases and are referred to hospitals at the higher levels of the pyramidal healthcare delivery system. However, hospitals at the higher levels of the pyramid are always "full" and sometimes admit patients beyond their capacity. The problem is further aggravated if there is a sudden "shock" - a major accident, fire, earthquake, etc. that may leave hundreds injured and requiring immediate medical attention. The resilience of the healthcare delivery system to absorb a sudden "shock" needs to be tested, and if not found robust, a robust system needs to be developed that can absorb sudden shocks. The purpose of this research is to develop a model for such a resilient and robust healthcare delivery system.