tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9551150.post3220890458112170949..comments2024-03-28T01:27:23.408-04:00Comments on Health Care Renewal: At One Academic Medical Center: "Profitability" Trumps "Doing the Right Thing"Roy M. Poses MDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00497209843184497847noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9551150.post-40198474735012219742009-01-29T22:59:00.000-05:002009-01-29T22:59:00.000-05:00It's interesting that we have attracted two commen...It's interesting that we have attracted two commentators, both anonymous, who insist that Dr Kaplan did not mean profitability when he wrote "profitability."<BR/><BR/>I believe I did acknowledge in my original post the possiblity that he somehow wrote something completely erroneous. I will have to check if he has amended his original post.<BR/><BR/>But he is hardly unsophisticated, and was Roy M. Poses MDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00497209843184497847noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9551150.post-60116127510223651692009-01-29T13:21:00.000-05:002009-01-29T13:21:00.000-05:00You're playing with semantics - profits are within...You're playing with semantics - profits are within for-profit corporations, the same excess revenue in a non-profit is surplus...and "no money, no mission" is certainly true.<BR/><BR/>Unlike for-profit corporations, non-profits CANNOT pay out their surplus to their board, staff or anyone else - surplus must go back into the organization and for a medical facility that would be in the form of new Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9551150.post-23027378299887183122009-01-29T10:50:00.000-05:002009-01-29T10:50:00.000-05:00I really have a hard time, Dr. Poses, believing th...I really have a hard time, Dr. Poses, believing that you think the use of the term "profitability" in this case means that the non-profit hospital is actually pocketing extra cash. I think you are smarter than that. No non-profit can operate simply by breaking even over the long haul -- or, I should say, no non-profit can continue meeting the demands of its customers (patients) without bringing Jimmy Deanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10748115490108701558noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9551150.post-84882578167676277212009-01-28T22:33:00.000-05:002009-01-28T22:33:00.000-05:00I have heard "no margin, no mission" quoted freque...I have heard "no margin, no mission" quoted frequently. But at best, that seems to mean roughly: if you don't have enough money, you can't accomplish your mission. That's certainly true. <BR/><BR/>But enough money and profitability are not equivalent. Profitability implies making more than the amount required to fulfill the mission. And profitability is usually figured out after the generous Roy M. Poses MDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00497209843184497847noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9551150.post-78176046274983727392009-01-28T21:48:00.000-05:002009-01-28T21:48:00.000-05:00Meh. One out-of-context quote here, rather distor...Meh. One out-of-context quote here, rather distorted. I just don't see this as being mission-hostile.<BR/><BR/>For one thing, as the nuns at my catholic institution used to say, "No margin = No mission." That's pretty much the truth, and a realistic CEO has to work within those confines. Furthermore, you kind of missed the point, I thought, in that his comment was itself within a call to *shadowfaxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11648279307230813762noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9551150.post-49832113886656456992009-01-28T07:33:00.000-05:002009-01-28T07:33:00.000-05:00In looking at organizations that have lost their w...In looking at organizations that have lost their way we need look no further than the AMA. Noting in this piece:<BR/><BR/>Physicians need one voice to fight for payment reform<BR/><BR/>AMA Leader Commentary. By Joseph M. Heyman, MD, Posted Jan. 26, 2009.<BR/><BR/>I want to emphasize three key points:<BR/><BR/>The American Medical Association absolutely supports this important investment in Steve Lucashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02457363632413213801noreply@blogger.com