People responding to me are missing the point.
This hospital caters *primarily* to medicare patients. It means this hospital has less money to pay its employees. It means this hospital is less likely to attract top-notch doctors, who typically don't rely *primarily* on medicare to pay their higher salaries, because medicare WILL NOT pay that much. The higher quality doctors will work in environments where they can recoup the loss from low-paying medicare, by having more patients who don't rely on medicare, than they have patients who do.
If you have MOSTLY medicare financing the existence of a hospital, you will have less revenue because medicare does not pay the salaries that attract better quality doctors and staff and faculty.
Most hospitals accept medicare patients, but ALSO have mostly patients who aren't on medicare, whose normal health insurance pays out more. This results in better equipment, better facilities, more staff, higher quality doctors, a better doctor : patient ratio, a better nurse : patient ratio, a higher quality of care score.
The Villages Hospital is dealing PRIMARILY with substandard revenue. You can't expect good service from substandard revenue.
Nowhere did I mention, hint, or even suggest that other hospitals don't accept medicare and are therefore better. Nowhere did I suggest, hint, or imply that hospitals that do accept medicare are substandard.
Again - I was very specific. THIS hospital - that relies PRIMARILY (not exclusively, not equally to any other, but primarily) on medicare to foot the bill - will - because it's medicare primarily footing the bill - attract faculty, staff, physicians, who are willing to accept much lower pay than hospitals that do not rely *primarily* on medicare to foot the bill.
It's basic economics. If you want to prove me wrong, donate $28 million to TVH to improve their staffing and quality of care issues. You'll see a better caliber of staff seeking to work there, and you'll see a higher quality of care.
|