solved Compare and contrast the benefits of non-profit versus for-profit healthcare

Compare and contrast the benefits of non-profit versus for-profit healthcare organizations.

first reply

The week four discussion board prompt question has asked the students of the class to examine a very common question when it comes to the topic of health care within the United States. That question has often centered around the competing models of for-profit and not-profit health care organizations, and which model happens to be superior. The week four question has asked the students of the class to directly compare and contrast the benefits of not-profit versus for-profit healthcare organizations. This author will attempt to provide at least two benefits of each particular model in the following passages. This author will select to discuss the benefits of not-profit health care organizations first, as they make up the majority of health care institutions in the United States (Cronin et al., 2021).
As this author has already pointed out, the majority of hospitals within the United States happened to be not-profit, and the driving reason behind that occurrence has been simple and economically driven (Cronin et al., 2021). Arguably, the reason why the majority of hospitals happen to be not-profit in the United States has been because of the tax-exempt status which they have received from the Federal Government. The benefit of the tax-exempt status has meant that not-profit health care organizations have been able to achieve lower average costs which they can pass onto their patrons (Lee, 2019). Additionally, not-profit health care organizations benefit in a public relation sense, which potentially draws more sales, because the perception of not-profit has been viewed in society as altruistic despite in many instances not-profits having brought in the same or better revenue than for-profit institutions (Jeurissen et al., 2021; Lee, 2019). With these two points being made for the benefits of not-profit health care organizations, what can be said of the benefits of for-profit health care organizations?
Perhaps, the two most compelling benefits found with the for-profit health care organization model has been related to the more definable top-down organizational structure which as lent it to having superior efficiency/operational discipline and agency (Lee, 2019). Agency has benefited for-profit organizations because it has tied and incentivized key members and leaders of the organization to mutually align their own interests, or the interests of the board, with those of the health care organization (Cronin et al., 2021; Lee, 2019). In turn, this has meant that for-profit hospitals have been able to charge more for services and focus on narrow fields of care due to not having to reinvest the majority of their revenue back into the mission of the institution (Jeurissen et al., 2021). These factors have meant that the for-profit institution can be efficient and well defined without superfluous personnel and mission creep into loosely relevant areas which consume more capital.
In closing, this author has stated earlier that for-profit health care organizations often encounter negative stigma because of the contradictory relationship profit and compassion have with one another (Jeurissen et al., 2021). For this contradictory aspect, this author has selected 1 John 2:9, “Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness.” (English Standard Version, n.d.) as his Biblical integration. This verse has captured the conundrum of saying that medicine is being practice for the benefit of others in the name of compassion and charity, but yet we charge large sums of money for what is supposed to be charity and compassion. Are we charitable and compassionate, or are we once again fooling ourselves into believing that we are in the light? 

Reply two

A non-profit and for-profit are two very important aspect in health care organization. Before comparing and contrasting the benefits of non-profit and for-profit health care organizations, it is important that the the concepts are first discussed so as to have a good understanding of how they both operates. The strategies of not-for-profit organizations may differ from those of for-profit organizations because of more severe agency problems, differences in goals, and differences in costs (Lee, 2019). Every company or organization have an agency issue, these agency problems are battles between what the manager wants for their own interest and the objectives or goals of shareholders or team members. In terms of funding, the non-profit health care organization gets their fund from charity, religious organizations, or educational funds. The overall goal is to provide quality care to all patients and this boils down to the real health care systems to utilize and administer quality care. Non-profit health care organizations have a significant role in the provision of health care, at least until 20 century and today, the role of non-profit health care organizations in health care varies significantly across health systems (Almeida, 2017). In the United States, about 60% of hospitals and about a third of nursing homes implemented or adopted the legal form of non-profit health care organization.
A simple way to define a non-profit organization is to first define the for-profit health care organizations. A for-profit health care organization will seek to encourages efficient production among the for-profit hospitals, while non-profit health care organizations might be less vigilant in eliminating waste in the production process (Freeman et al., 2020). There are external mechanisms for a for-profit organization to become more efficient such as selling of shares over dissatisfaction of managerial performance.
Looking at the differences between the non-profit versus for-profit health care organization, it should be noted that, since nom-profit health care organization lack incentive to maximize profits, non-profit health care organizations are expected to maximize prestige, quality, or quantity rather than strict cost. While on the other hand, the for-profit health care organization will encourages efficiency. The non-profit as already mentioned, received funding from charity organizations, religious organizations, and sometimes from government subsidies, while the for-profit health care organization’s sources of capital are the equity capital from the various investors and return-on-equity payments from third party payers like Medicare. Non-profit health care organization gain benefits from the pursuit of goals than the for-profit organizations, and in terms of costs, the non-profit organizations may not have to pay taxes which tends to make the non-profit’s average costs lower, while the for-profit pays taxes and therefore tend to have costs (Lee, 2019).
Although the non-profit health care organizations and the for-profit organizations have their differences, some similarities could also be seen from these two health care organizations. In both non-profit and for-profit health care organizations, employees share perceptions of the work environment in terms of encouraging organizational members to share and generate new ideas with one another (Brimhall, 2019). This has helped to foster a climate of innovation for both health care organizations. It must be noted that, whether it is a non-profit health care organization or a for-profit health care organization, it is essential for all health care organizations to meet patients’ needs and to provide quality of care to their patients. Providing the right care and quality health care to all patients should be the main goal for all health care organizations. Colossians 3:23 (New International Version) reads “And whatsoever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men”. According to the scripture, it does not matter which type of health care organization is adopted, but it would be good to see that all patients are been given the right care they deserve. Health care workers should perform their job like they are doing it for God and not for man