3 ms·

This is such a silly quote: > "Hospital success is measured not only in dollars or the number of patients who pass through the doors, but also in lives saved"

This is such a silly quote: > "Hospital success is measured not only in dollars or the number of patients who pass through the doors, but also in lives saved" As if profits are the primary goal of hospitals and saving lives/treating patients is just an afterthought. The capture of all life sustaining efforts by for-profit entities is probably the number one problem in the western world which is driving all others. Climate change, famine, homelessness, death from preventable disease. None are caused by unsolvable problems but instead by the inability of the for-profit/market based system to provide for human needs.

deleted 3y ago
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Dalewyn 3y ago
Manhours cost money, equipment and infrastructure cost money, supplies and consumables cost money. If the primary goal of a hospital is to save lives, which it is, then the hospital needs to generate sufficient revenue to enable that goal.
- phkahler 3y ago
  No doubt. But skimming some of the revenue for profit goes directly against that
  - Dalewyn 3y ago
    Profit is necessary to invest in the future. If revenue matches cost leading to a gross profit of zero, you can only ever keep whatever it is you have today with no room to advance or adapt or even maintain.
  - JumpCrisscross 3y ago
    > skimming some of the revenue for profit goes directly against that Non-profit hospitals don’t fare better or worse on health outcomes than for-profit hospitals [1]. They are run less efficiently [2]. If you’ve been on a non-profit Board, particularly a service-model non-profit, this makes sense. [1] https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/press-releases/hospitals-converting-to-for-profit-status-show-better-financial-health-no-loss-in-quality-of-care/ https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/press-releases/hospitals-c... [2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7439627/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7439627/
- Arn_Thor 3y ago
  Except, if it's tax funded the hospital does not need to generate revenue to enable that goal. It can focus on saving lives, and maybe even do preventative care which lowers overall health costs for society by dealing with problems early on. As a society, that saves money, leaving everyone better off
TaylorAlexander 3y ago
I think a lot about how hard it is for us to imagine a better world. My foot kind of hurts. It’s been this way for years and I’ve changed shoes to something that’s better but I’d love to have it looked at by a podiatrist. But also every time I visit the doctor, despite having insurance, I end up having to pay a lot of money. So maybe I don’t see a doctor about my foot. It’s fine. But in a better world I wouldn’t have any reason not to get my foot checked up on. Maybe there is something that could be done for it and maybe it makes my life better. Or it’s fine and I get peace of mind and stop worrying. Now multiply this across the entire population. What if everyone had lower barriers to health care. The amount of population wide well being would increase a lot. And that’s the part I think we usually have a hard time conceptualizing when we think about a better world. But it’s a very real possibility!

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Dalewyn 3y ago

Manhours cost money, equipment and infrastructure cost money, supplies and consumables cost money. If the primary goal of a hospital is to save lives, which it is, then the hospital needs to generate sufficient revenue to enable that goal.

phkahler 3y ago
No doubt. But skimming some of the revenue for profit goes directly against that
- Dalewyn 3y ago
  Profit is necessary to invest in the future. If revenue matches cost leading to a gross profit of zero, you can only ever keep whatever it is you have today with no room to advance or adapt or even maintain.
- JumpCrisscross 3y ago
  > skimming some of the revenue for profit goes directly against that Non-profit hospitals don’t fare better or worse on health outcomes than for-profit hospitals [1]. They are run less efficiently [2]. If you’ve been on a non-profit Board, particularly a service-model non-profit, this makes sense. [1] https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/press-releases/hospitals-converting-to-for-profit-status-show-better-financial-health-no-loss-in-quality-of-care/ https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/press-releases/hospitals-c... [2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7439627/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7439627/
Arn_Thor 3y ago
Except, if it's tax funded the hospital does not need to generate revenue to enable that goal. It can focus on saving lives, and maybe even do preventative care which lowers overall health costs for society by dealing with problems early on. As a society, that saves money, leaving everyone better off

TaylorAlexander 3y ago

I think a lot about how hard it is for us to imagine a better world. My foot kind of hurts. It’s been this way for years and I’ve changed shoes to something that’s better but I’d love to have it looked at by a podiatrist. But also every time I visit the doctor, despite having insurance, I end up having to pay a lot of money. So maybe I don’t see a doctor about my foot. It’s fine. But in a better world I wouldn’t have any reason not to get my foot checked up on. Maybe there is something that could be done for it and maybe it makes my life better. Or it’s fine and I get peace of mind and stop worrying. Now multiply this across the entire population. What if everyone had lower barriers to health care. The amount of population wide well being would increase a lot. And that’s the part I think we usually have a hard time conceptualizing when we think about a better world. But it’s a very real possibility!