Since its establishment in 2005, Hamburg's Martini Klinik had single-mindedly focused on prostate cancer care with a commitment to measure long term health outcomes for every patient. A wholly owned subsidiary of the University Hospital Hamburg, Martini Klinik was a "hospital in a hospital" in close proximity to other medical departments and services. By 2019, Martini Klinik had become the largest prostate cancer treatment program in the world with 8,000 outpatient cases and more than 2,500 surgical cases annually. Patients came from all over Germany and from around the world. A new and expanded facility was under construction to have the capacity to manage more patients with prostate cancer.

Medtronic is adapting its strategy to changes in health care competition and payments. It has decided to develop new relationships with payers, hospitals, and physicians to become more accountable for patient outcomes and total costs. The case describes new forms of partnerships for therapy optimization, management of acute care episodes, and management of chronic care patients.

Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) began as a stand-alone hospital in the heart of downtown Philadelphia in 1855. By 2016 the CHOP Care Network stretched across Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and the New York metropolitan area, providing a wide range of services from primary care to complex specialty care. In 2016, U.S. News and World Report had ranked CHOP as the number 2 pediatric hospital in the nation and among the top 10 in 10 pediatric specialties. CHOP's residency program for training pediatricians was also ranked number one in the country. Madeline Bell, who had been President and Chief Operating Officer, was named Chief Executive Officer in 2015. A pediatric nurse who became a hospital administrator, Bell saw the network as a means to serve more patients, improve pediatric care, and address the challenges posed by a rapidly changing health care environment.