Research

Research Interests: 

Healthcare Operations Management, Empirical Service Operations Management, Behavioral Operations Management

Publications (as of 2026) ** = industry or clinical collaborator 

1. Masoud Kamalahmadi, Jong Myeong Lim, Cristina Rubio-Delgado**, Katelyn Walker** (2026) Telehealth's double-edged sword: Hidden costs of expanding access to virtual care, Manufacturing & Service Operations Management. 

1. • Summary: This work shows that when access to care expands faster than physician capacity, both physicians and healthcare organizations face operational and financial challenges. It identifies strategies to expand access while protecting physician well-being and organizational performance. 

   • Runner-Up at the 2025 POMS College of Health Care Operations Management Best Paper Competition

   • Link: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=6798098

2. Masoud Kamalahmadi, Christos Zacharias, Howard Gitlow, Stephen Demers**, Cristina Rubio-Delgado**, Katelyn Walker** (2026) Breaking barriers: Improving patient adherence to appointments and provider productivity through telehealth, Production and Operations Management, 35 (4), 1333-1352.

• Summary: This work shows that telehealth expands access not only by providing an alternative to in-person care, but also by improving patient adherence to medical appointments and increasing physician productivity. 

• Link: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=5399057

3. Masoud Kamalahmadi, Kurt Bretthauer, Jonathan Helm, Alex Mills, Edwin Coe**, Alisa Judy-Malcolm**, Areeba Kara**,  & Julian Pan** (2023). Mixing it up: Operational impact of hospitalist caseload and case-mix, Management Science, 69 (1), 283-307.  

• Summary: This work develops an operational model of hospitalist workflow to identify the optimal physician workload. It shows that hospitalists perform best with a balanced mix of simple and complex patients, and that most U.S. hospitalists care for too many patients.  

1. • Winner of the 2018 POMS College of Health Care Operations Management Best Paper Competition

   • Media Coverage: Medscape 

   • Link: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3456882

4. Masoud Kamalahmadi, Qiuping Yu & Yong-Pin Zhou (2021). Call to duty: Just-in-time scheduling in a restaurant chain, Management Science, 67 (11), 6751-6781.

• Summary: This work shows that despite offering scheduling flexibility for restaurants, just-in-time scheduling may reduce worker productivity to the extent that it harms restaurant profitability. In contrast, providing even a few days' advance notice can prevent these losses. 

1. • 3rd Place at the 2019 INFORMS Service Science Best Paper Award

   • Media Coverage: Harvard Business Review (also in Chinese and Farsi), Brookings, EMERGING, INFORMS Press Release, Science Times, NEWS@TheU, Scheller News, Foster Research Briefs

   • Link: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3299631

Other Publications

5. Masoud Kamalahmadi, Mansoor Shekarian, & Mahour Mellat-Parast (2022). The impact of flexibility and redundancy on improving supply chain resilience to disruptions. International Journal of Production Research, 60(6), 1992-2020. 

6. Masoud Kamalahmadi & Mahour Mellat-Parast (2017). An assessment of supply chain disruption mitigation strategies. International Journal of Production Economics, 184, 210-230. 

7. Masoud Kamalahmadi & Mahour Mellat-Parast (2016). Developing a resilient supply chain through supplier flexibility and reliability assessment. International Journal of Production Research, 54(1), 302-321.

8. Masoud Kamalahmadi & Mahour Mellat-Parast (2016). A review of the literature on the principles of enterprise and supply chain resilience: Major findings and directions for future research. International Journal of Production Economics, 171, 116-133.  

Working Papers * = PhD student 

9. Racial and gender biases in customer satisfaction surveys: Evidence from a restaurant chain

• Summary: This work shows that customer ratings, now widely used for worker evaluation, can perpetuate workplace inequalities. It also offers solutions for designing fairer and more accurate evaluation systems. 

• Co-authors: Qiuping Yu, Yong-Pin Zhou

• Status: Minor Revision at Manufacturing & Service Operations Management.

• Finalist at the 2024 INFORMS Service Science Best Paper in Socially Responsible Research Award (5-min Video)

• Media Coverage: Brookings

• Link: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4418420 

10. Improving access for underserved communities: Network effects of opening rural healthcare clinics

• Summary: This work shows that expanding rural access can have ripple effects across the entire health network, creating congestion in other facilities. It highlights the importance of proactive, network-wide capacity planning when expanding local access.  

• Co-authors: Kurt Bretthauer, Jonathan Helm, Rodney Parker

• Status: 2nd Major Revision at Manufacturing & Service Operations Management. 

11. Remote access, real risks: The impact of telehealth expansion and rollback on the opioid epidemic 

• Summary: This work shows that expanding digital access without adequate oversight can create opportunities for opportunistic behaviors to proliferate.   

• Co-authors: Xiru Pan*, Niam Yaraghi, Michael French, Anindya Ghose

• Status: Under Review after a Major Revision at Information Systems Research.

12. Physician-hospital integration and quality outcomes: The role of financial incentives 

• Summary: This work demonstrates how physician incentives can influence patient outcomes.  

• Co-authors: Jingyun Su*, Jong Myeong Lim

• Status: Under Review at Management Science.

• Link: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=6962318 

13. Equity and efficiency in hospital physicians' work structure

• Summary: This work explores how patient-physician assignment can be leveraged to balance equity and efficiency in hospital physician workload.   

• Co-authors: Kurt Bretthauer, Jonathan Helm, Alex Mills, Areeba Kara**

• Status: Preliminary Draft.