by Tony Chen

One of the things that fascinates me the most about being in the healthcare industry is this tension between providing societal good and driving for profits. Ya'll know how I feel about this by now - these goals are not mutually exclusive, in fact, we have to be passionately two-minded. The moment we lose sight of either fundamental purpose is the moment we've failed.

As I was studying for my CHE (well, now it's FACHE) exam, I was reminded by one of our founding fathers. Good ole Ben Franklin, while conducting a fund drive, built his case for our nation's first hospital (The Pennsylvania Hospital, 1760) like this:

1. We need a refuge for the unfortunate, and Christianity will reward you for your generosity to this cause.
2. You might need it yourself this very night
3. Among other things, we can keep contagious people off the streets.
4. We can certainly handle this better as a community than as individuals.
5. Grants from the Crown and the Commonwealth will lower the out-of-pocket costs.

a nice little reminder...