You might wonder about the title of my blog. In the introductory post, I mentioned that I have diverse interests and the blog will be generally about business – and so it will be. Healthcare is business and general business concepts cross every industry. I chose the title for two reasons. First, I know healthcare. I have been working in healthcare for many years and will likely continue my entire career in healthcare. With that, the general business concepts will frequently navigate toward healthcare and I will use healthcare references a lot (I will, however, try my best to avoid jargon and fancy-pants business terms like synergize).
The second reason is simple, too. While I was setting up the blog, the profile asks ‘to what industry do you belong’ … healthcare was not an option. Now I’m here to tell you, healthcare is a business, too! As a matter of fact, a multi-billion dollar industry that includes IT companies, insurance companies, pharmaceuticals, hospitals, labs, rehab facilities and so on. It employs millions of people. It is not only a business – it is a BIG business!
Now, it is great to say that healthcare serves to save lives and promote wellbeing and to a certain extent that is true; however, most of the companies that provide health related services do so for profit. Personally, I think that’s good. If I didn’t think so, I wouldn’t have a job. I am certainly not trying to imply that patient health is not important – it is! Remember one of the most basic business concepts is the importance of customer satisfaction. Patients spend money and healthcare businesses profit from it. Further, healthcare businesses face the same challenges as every other business – how to get more customers, how to maximize profit, how to be innovative and creative, how to sell more, how to have a great brand image, etc. More over that, healthcare, like other industries, is highly regulated. By every measure, healthcare is business.
This is a bitter pill to swallow for some people (pun fully intended). People want to believe that their doctors have no interest in money. He or she is simply trying to make you feel better. But people forget healthcare providers have expenses and like all of us, healthcare providers want to own nice things, drive nice cars, and have the latest gadgets. Now to cover their expenses (business overhead and personal), they must be paid for the services they render. As business owners, healthcare providers strive for profitability – like in any business.
