Profit Vs Non profit hospitals

[radbird]

I am doing a presentation on profit vs non-profit hospitals and would like to use some life experience as a basis of my information. So, which do you prefer and why? Thanks!

[RN1989]

Non-profit. They are penny conscious just as much as for profit, however they usually are not willing to cut the staffing numbers quite as much. I've seen largers number of unecessary procedures performed as well as outright lying to insurance companies to get more money into the for-profits. Non-profits usually have much better orientation and staff support than for-profits do.

[radbird]

Thank you, this is exactly what I was after. The real life experience-I have a hard time believing I would get that from a book.

[RNfaster]

Check out http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/58749.php

"Patients are more likely to receive high quality of care in not-for-profit hospitals and in hospitals with more registered nurses and advanced technology, reports a comprehensive Harvard Medical School (HMS) analysis published in the Archives of Internal Medicine."

...

"Not-for-profit hospitals consistently performed better than for-profit hospitals for each condition, and federal and military hospitals had the highest performance. "Because a large portion of federal and military hospitals are part of the Veterans Health Administration, this suggests that lessons learned from their decade-long experience in quality improvement deserves further study," said Landon. "It seems likely that the information technology and computerized reporting systems at the VA contributed to their high performance."

Not-for-profit hospitals consistently performed better than for-profit hospitals for each condition (CHF, AMI, and pneumonia), and federal and military hospitals had the highest performance. "Because a large portion of federal and military hospitals are part of the Veterans Health Administration, this suggests that lessons learned from their decade-long experience in quality improvement deserves further study," said Landon. "It seems likely that the information technology and computerized reporting systems at the VA contributed to their high performance."

Also, did you see this recent NY Times article on nursing homes? http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/23/business/23nursing.html?n=Top%2fNews%2fHealth%2fDiseases%2c%20Conditions%2c%20and%20Health%20Topics%2fNursing%20Homes

It notes that non-profit nursing homes are more likely than for-profits to have greater RN staffing hours per patient. You can also investigate at the nursing home level for yourself as the reports are public and easily examined via web.

[leslymill]

I have good and bad experiences from both. Biggest problem I had with not for profit hospitals was the high volume high dollar waste. We are talking. Too cheep to buy or wash your low volume wash cloth stock for your patients face so nurses used sterile gauze 4x4's like they were free. No tourniquets to start an IV you charge the patient with a sterile pen-rose drain. High tech equipment was tossed like it was a dirty diaper.

But watch out at the for profit hospital too. If your a patient get an itemized bill, been known to charge $10 for a toothbrush. I a staffer messes up your IVP test and it is re scheduled you may be paying for two unless you dispute it.

[semiller36545]

Non-profit , definitely. I don't believe in health care for profit.