RC: The United States hospital industry is an unusual market

[Khush]

The United States hospital industry is an unusual market in that nonprofit and for-profit produce's exist simultaneously. Theoretical literature offers conflicting views on whether nonprofit hospitals are less financially efficient. Theory suggests that nonprofit hospitals are so much more interested in offering high-quality service than in making money that they frequently input more resources to provide the same output of service as for-profit hospitals. This priority might also often lead them to be less vigilant in streamlining their services"”eliminating duplication between departments, for instance. Conversely, while profit motive Is thought to encourage for-profit hospitals to attain efficient production, most theorists admit that obstacles to that efficiency remain[highlight]. For-profit hospital managers[/highlight], for example, generally work independently of hospital owners and thus may not always make maximum financial efficiency their highest priority. The literature also suggests that widespread adoption of third-party payment systems may eventually eliminate any such potential differences between the two kinds of hospitals.

The same literature offers similarly conflicting views of the efficiency of nonprofit hospitals from a social welfare perspective. Newhouse (1970) contends that nonprofit hospital managers unnecessarily expand the quality and quantity of hospital care beyond the actual needs of the community, while Weisbrod (1975) argues that nonprofit firms-hospitals included"”contribute efficiently to community welfare by providing public services that might be inadequately provided by government alone.


Hi Ron,

PFB the question (related to our discussion about whether "unnecessary" can also mean "inappropriate" on another thread).

According to the passage, Newhouse's view of the social welfare efficiency of nonprofit hospitals differs from Weisbrod's view in that Newhouse

(A) contends that government already provides most of the services that communities need
(B) argues that for-profit hospitals are better at meeting actual community needs than are nonprofit hospitals
(C) argues that nonprofit hospitals are likely to spend more to provide services that the community requires than for-profit hospitals are likely to spend
(D) argues that nonprofit hospitals ought to expand the services they provide to meet the community's demands
(E) believes that the level of care provided by nonprofit hospitals is inappropriate, given the community's requirements

OA: E

I really don't understand why does the correct answer choice describe an unnecessary action as inappropriate.

[RonPurewal]

If it's "beyond the needs of the community", then common sense dictates that it's inappropriate.

[RonPurewal]

What is "PFB"?

Please don't use abbreviations in your text, unless they are universally understood (e.g., "e.g." or "i.e.").
Thanks.

[NL]

What are e.g., "e.g." or "i.e."?
(I live in the universe)

[RonPurewal]

What are e.g., "e.g." or "i.e."?
(I live in the universe)

It doesn't seem possible that you've never seen these. They are ubiquitous in written English; I see them almost daily.

"E.g." means "for example". In the OG alone, it appears more than thirty times. (On the bottom of page 668 in the 13th edition, it's used three times in a single paragraph.)

"I.e." means "that is", or "namely". It appears even more often than "e.g.".
It's even in one of the RC passages (page 390, line 15).

[NL]

Good examples, Ron! I just checked it :))

I think these words can be written in abbreviation forms because they are...not important (people still understand sentences without knowing the meaning of those words)

[RonPurewal]

The point is that they're universally accepted and understood (by educated people, at least.)

Here's a good guideline:
If an abbreviation wouldn't appear in, say, the Harvard Business Review, then don't use it here.

If that guideline is too much work, or too much thinking, then here's an easier one:
Don't use abbreviations.

Also, I still don't know what PFB is. (The context of your post is clear enough without that understanding, but, still.)
o_o

[Khush]

PFB means "Please find below".
PFA means "Please find attached" .

like that..
I will make sure i don't use such abbreviations .:)

[RonPurewal]

Interesting.

I've only seen "Please find below/attached" in very formal communication, of the business- or taxation-related kind"”i.e., the kind of communication in which one would absolutely never use such abbreviations.

In any case, let's retire this discussion. If you have further questions about the problem(s), fire away.

[AnupamaW260]

Hello Sir
I was stuck between D and E
OA is D

I eliminated E because in passage it is written -- managers may not always make maximum financial efficiency their highest priority. Whereas in E it is written high priority on maximizing profits.
Also it is inference question, so answer will not be directly written in passage.
--->hospital managers, for example, generally work independently of hospital owners
So decisions of hospital owners and managers may not be same.

Thus I selected D. Is my thinking correct? i was wondering about Their decisions regarding services provided by their hospitals in D. How can we infer it?

3. The passage suggests which of the following about the managers mentioned in the highlighted text?
A. They have generally been motivated to streamline hospital services as a result of direct intervention by hospital owners.
B. They are more likely than managers of nonprofit hospitals to use unnecessary amounts of resources to provide services.
C. Their most important self-acknowledged goal is to achieve maximum financial efficiency so that hospitals show a profit.
D. Their decisions regarding services provided by their hospitals may not reflect hospital owners' priorities.
E. They do not place a high priority on maximizing profits, despite their desire to achieve efficiency.


Thank you very much !

[RonPurewal]

Thus I selected D. Is my thinking correct? i was wondering about Their decisions regarding services provided by their hospitals in D. How can we infer it?

the ENTIRE PASSAGE—literally, every single word of it—is about hospital services.