Respond to the post: Please use 2 sources and a biblical reference. Prompt: Compare and contrast not-for-profit and for-profit healthcare entities.
Not-for-profit healthcare organizations are quite different from their counterpart, for-profit healthcare entities. A few significant differences between the two are as follows: who owns the organization, the purpose of the organization, and the tax status of the organization. Not-for-profit or non-profit organizations are “owned by the entire community rather than by investor–owners. Unlike its for-profit counterpart, the primary goal of a not-for-profit (also referred to as a non-profit) organization is not to maximize profits, but to serve the community in which it operates through the healthcare services it provides” (Cleverley & Cleverley, 2018). Non-profit organizations are “exempt from federal income taxes and property taxes” (Cleverley & Cleverley, 2018). Investor-owners run for-profit organizations, and the primary goal of these organizations is to disperse the profits to the owners or reinvest in the company, still for the benefit of the owners (Cleverley & Cleverley, 2018). For-profit organizations can be set up in many ways: investor-owned, professional corporations, sole proprietorships, partnerships, limited partnerships, and limited liability companies (Cleverley & Cleverley, 2018). There are benefits and downsides to each and the following sections will discuss some of these. There is a financial benefit for health organizations to be non-profit. Moon and Shugan discuss the results of a study done on for-profit and non-profit hospitals: “For basic services, we find that non-profits provide greater output, having lower prices and profits than for-profits. However, we show that the non-profits’nonprofits’ willingness to sacrifice profits for output leads them to invest more in PSMS than for-profits do. Larger PSMS investment allows non-profits to achieve larger profits with both higher average prices and greater output than for-profits, where greater non-profit invest-ment deters for-profit investment” (2020). The benefits of for-profit organizations are discussed in the following statements: “For-profit hospitals do have documented differences in comparison to non-profits, and these differences may affect the potential for for-profit organizations to function as anchor institutions. For example, for-profit hospitals are more efficient in terms of employees, which may limit the numbers of jobs they provide to the local community. For-profits are also more likely to offer services that are profitable, as opposed to unprofitable but necessary, which may impact access to critical health care services in medically underserved settings” (Cronin & Franz, 2021). When thinking about these things, it is important to seek wisdom. Proverbs 19:8 says, “The one who gets wisdom loves life; the one who cherishes understanding will soon prosper” (NIV). The Bible calls Christians to pursue wisdom in all they do, and the healthcare arena is no exception. Healthcare providers should be seeking to be wise with funds and the patients/clients they are entrusted with. Healthcare is often pegged as a vast, “money-making” organization, but it is also intended to care for the needs of the most vulnerable and needy. The true purpose of healthcare must be remembered and upheld whether an organization is for-profit or not-for-profit.