Healthcare Delivery System Within the United States Essay

Healthcare Delivery System

Within the United States there is a dynamic between for-profit and not-for-profit health delivery systems. Health, in this instance, can be defined primarily as the facility's ability to restore ill patients to optimal physical standards. Both hospitals claim to provide similar care, with in-patient and out-patient services being offered to those in need. However, the real question becomes which provides better care for patients and what types of patients seek out each type of hospital. This paper will discuss primarily for-profit healthcare delivery systems and the advantages that these hospitals bring when compared with non-profit hospitals. Specific issues that will be considered are the types of patients common to each hospital, these individuals' access to healthcare, and the impact of insurance.

For-profit hospitals are simply that, a for-profit entity seeking to bring in revenue through providing high-quality medical services to patients. This is accomplished through higher overall prices for care (Pattison, 1983), but balanced through superior physicians and surgeons.This being the case, the overall consumer for-profit hospitals is typically a middle to upper-class person. For-profit hospitals tend to attract higher amounts of elderly people who have the established wealth to pay for the higher quality care. In fact, according to a study conducted by the National Bureau of Economic Research, the only reason that for-profit hospitals have a higher mortality rate than non-profit hospitals is because if the high amount of elderly heart-patients that the hospitals serve (Cutler, 2000). Non-profit hospitals, on the other hand, tend to service two specific groups of consumers. The first are those belonging to a specific religious group, typically Catholic. Second, are the poor or indigent who cannot otherwise afford to pay for necessary medical care. While the non-profit hospitals do offer care to these patients, this results in a much smaller amount of revenue being generated and an inability to….....