Chapter 625

As soon as mid-October passes, the weather in New York suddenly changes from hot to cool.

In two months' time, New York, which has a humid climate in the temperate continent, will usher in its winter, when snow will fall.

However, humans have modern technology. With the help of modern technology, the scorching heat and cold winters no longer pose any threat to some humans who control a large amount of resources.

In the warm spring-like Smith Tower conference room, Alan Berg was presiding over the daily routine meeting of the think tank. It was almost noon, and when the meeting was about to end, the mobile phone placed next to the conference table buzzed.

After taking a look at Laixian, Allen reached down to signal everyone to be quiet, and then picked up the phone.

"Good morning, boss——"

Upon hearing the call from the boss, everyone in the conference room couldn't help but brighten their eyes and straighten their bodies slightly. It has to be said that as Abel succeeds step by step, he is almost "ascendable" in the United States today.

His subordinates and employees respect and admire him more and more. This is reality. People always worship the strong and are willing to rely on the strong.

"Huh? Boss, do you want to acquire a hospital locally?"

When Allen heard Abel's new plan on the phone, he couldn't help frowning. While repeating Abel's new request to his subordinates, he pointed at his subordinates and asked them to immediately find out information about American hospitals. material.

In the conference room, there were three people immediately typing on the keyboard on the laptop in front of them. Within ten seconds, they got up, took the laptop, ran to Allen, and put the notebook on Allen's side. before.

"Boss, according to our database, the 2002 annual hospital survey report updated by the American Hospital Association shows that there are currently 5,055 hospitals in the United States. Community hospitals account for the majority, accounting for 84%, and the rest are non-federal hospitals. government psychiatric hospitals, federal government hospitals, and other hospital types."

"Among these hospitals, the largest number are private non-profit hospitals at 2,904, followed by private for-profit hospitals at 1,013, and the remaining 1,085 public hospitals affiliated to state and local governments."

"Other types of hospitals are non-community hospitals including federal government hospitals, non-federal psychiatric hospitals, non-federal long-term care homes, etc."

"As can be seen from the data, the number of private not-for-profit hospitals is almost three times that of private for-profit hospitals and public hospitals respectively. Public hospitals are hospitals owned by federal, state or local governments and receive funding from the government. Covering the hospital's operating costs, this type of hospital tends to be more public welfare."

"Private for-profit community hospitals, as the name suggests, are hospitals owned by investors. The largest private hospital chain in the United States is HCA Holdings, which owns a total of 163 hospitals and 110 surgical centers in the United States and the United Kingdom. Its purpose of operation is to provide investors with Bringing the greatest economic benefits. Its current market value is approximately US$38.5 billion."

"Our database data shows that hospital expenses account for 32% of the entire medical expenses in the United States, making it the largest spender. The average hospitalization cost is 18,000 US dollars. The hospital industry is the largest in the United States. Industry. However, it is also the main culprit among many people in driving up the cost of medical care in the United States..."

Allen spoke concisely and to the point, picked out some important information in the database, and reported it to his boss clearly and quickly.

The chief think tank didn't know why the boss suddenly wanted to acquire the hospital.

Abel has always invested heavily in medical care.

First, two medical research laboratories, Adam and Eve, were established one after another.

Not to mention that before that, he had been donating to several famous hospitals, and he was one of the top five famous hospitals in the United States.

The annual investment of hundreds of millions of dollars allows him, his family, and even his subordinates and employees to receive medical treatment in these hospitals with certain convenience.

In his hometown of Tarrant County, there is a Smith Mission Hospital, which has a great reputation in the local area.

But now, Allen feels that his boss is right to want to acquire a large hospital chain and then run it himself.

He felt that instead of spending hundreds of millions of dollars in donations every year, his boss would be better off spending more money to acquire these hospitals.

Because hospital groups are extremely important in the American medical complex system and are very profitable.

Not to mention that with their own hospital system, medical research laboratories such as Adam and Eve will also be able to obtain more samples and clinical data, and they will not suffer losses in all aspects.

"I want to acquire a profitable hospital, preferably a large chain. If that doesn't work, just merge. The virus that raged in the Eastern countries last year sounded the alarm for me. In the future, similar highly contagious diseases will become more and more common. We cannot just hide every time we encounter this sudden virus, we must take the initiative, and more importantly, we can have our own hospital to protect our health."

On the phone, Abel's deep and magnetic voice came, making Allen, who had already turned on the speakerphone, and everyone present understand the reason and purpose of his acquisition of the hospital.

Hearing that the boss chose a for-profit hospital, everyone present nodded silently, as it should be. You must know that for-profit hospitals have a name called "investor-owned hospitals."

Investors invest in hospitals, just like investing in other fields, in order to make money, and the money earned belongs to the investors.

As for the non-profit private hospitals whose names sound like they provide free services to Americans, in fact they still aim to make money, but their investment comes from social donations, and the profits do not go to investors.

In the United States, 7 of the 10 most profitable hospitals are non-profit institutions. Because the U.S. hospital industry is a powerful interest group in the United States and has strong lobbying capabilities, it has been able to successfully disrupt various policy efforts to control hospital costs.

These hospitals rely on their pricing power and prolonging the medical process, using high-cost and high-profit medical equipment, increasing the use of consumables, setting up luxury wards, etc., to make profits.

Some hospitals in the United States charge patients 10 times more than the actual cost of treatment.

For example, at Stanford University Hospital, the annual income from a hospital bed is as much as RMB.

In addition to maintaining the operation of the hospital, the huge profits are mostly divided up by the interest groups that manage and control the hospital. The annual salary of the directors of non-profit hospitals is generally more than one million US dollars, and some even reach more than 7 million US dollars.

In the United States, a successful hospital, even the most honest hospital, carefully selects patients and services with huge profits and returns is the key to success. Meeting the needs of society often threatens the hospital's profits, which also leads to for-profit hospitals in the United States only Provides the most profitable cardiac and orthopedic care, and it's happening across the United States.

Although your boss has the best private doctor and you can enjoy the best medical resources, having it yourself is definitely safer and more worry-free than using someone else's.

"Boss, wait a moment, I'm already asking people to check if there are any suitable acquisition targets."

While talking to Abel to stall for time, Allen motioned to his men to quickly search for information. Not long after, someone put another laptop in front of him.

It has to be said that quite a few hospitals are facing bankruptcy or have already gone bankrupt.

This is also reasonable. Don't think that because medical expenses in the United States are high, all hospitals can make money. On the contrary, in fact, in the United States, due to the huge amount of hospital advance payments, there is no guarantee that the hospital's advance payments will recover the cost. If there is a problem with capital turnover, there will be many cases every year. Hospitals closed down.

Just because an industry is strong and profitable does not mean that all members of the entire industry can make money.

Across the United States, small, medium and large hospitals in various cities and surrounding areas are closing, or are facing difficulties and may be acquired.

"Boss, we have found some suitable ones. Now hospitals are facing increasing pressure to lose money, and many hospitals are unable to handle it. For example, the 80-year-old Williams Hospital in upper Manhattan, New York City, has applied for bankruptcy reorganization. If no one takes over, it is likely to be closed in the first half of next year, and many hospitals are also having a hard time."

In the United States, emergency rooms and hospitalizations are billed on a first-come-first-served basis. U.S. law requires hospitals to provide needed emergency medical services to patients regardless of their immigration status or whether they have money. No matter what the situation is, once you enter the emergency room, a set of examinations will be done. Because of the fear of excessive medical lawsuits, emergency doctors in the United States sometimes treat minor illnesses as major illnesses, which results in high medical expenses.

And if the patient does not have medical insurance and is illegal, the result is that the hospital has to pay all the expenses in advance, so the cost cannot be recovered.

Don't think that the hospital is complying with the law and medical ethics by doing this. In fact, the hospital itself is also to blame.

For example, if someone is anemic and unconscious on the roadside, it is not a big problem. Maybe he can just take some time and eat some sugar. But if someone "kindly" calls the emergency call, the ambulance will take him to the hospital for a checkup, and finally put on physiological sugar water to get it done.

But the entire course of treatment costs thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars... Things that can be done for a few hundred dollars have ended up being so expensive.

Can you blame the patient? So much so that authentic native Americans have developed the habit of never taking an ambulance until they reach a dead end.

Let's talk about a real example. In 2000, a middle-aged woman named Charlotte in New York was accidentally bitten on her finger when she was feeding a stray cat in the park!

Charlotte went to the hospital immediately for rabies vaccination and immune globulin, and the hospital sent the bill to Charlotte's home the next day - as mentioned earlier, there is a law in the United States that allows you to get treatment without paying for it. , after you return home after the treatment, the hospital will send the bill to your home the next day, and then you will pay!

Of course, you don't have to pay, and then it's not just the hospital that can make money from you.

There will also be lawyers...

After receiving the bill, Ms. Charlotte was completely dumbfounded when she opened it, because the hospital's fee was US$48,512, which was nearly US$50,000!

If hospitals do this, they will inevitably encounter some low-level people who do not have good medical insurance, or even do not buy medical insurance at all, and default on their bills.

The disease of poverty is a terminal illness and the most difficult disease to treat.

Although some low-income people can apply for government insurance, the insurance paid by the government is limited, and the hospital can only advance the money it cannot approve.

Also not all applications can be approved. For example, a hospital says its medical expenses are 2 million, but the U.S. government may only provide 1.5 million, leaving the hospital with the remaining 500,000.

As a result, some hospitals have so many bad debts that they have no choice but to go bankrupt and close down.

In the United States, even white houses can choose to go bankrupt and shut down. With the exception of the Federal Reserve, anyone can go bankrupt, and hospitals are no exception.

"Then contact them and buy this hospital. Well... it has a history of 80 years and is still in the uptown area. Even the land is probably worth a lot of money."

Allen waited for his boss to finish speaking, then from the perspective of the chief think tank, he made a suggestion to his boss: "As you wish, boss, I will have someone contact them now."

"But I have a few words to say. Boss, investing in a hospital has many disadvantages and risks. The first is that the hospital has only one way to develop and cannot transform. Second, the hospital is a long-term project, and the return is usually The cycle is six to ten years or even longer, and it takes a long time for high returns on investment. Third, it is usually difficult for hospitals to go public and can only rely on annual dividends, and even if there are dividends, they cannot obtain high profits. Fourth, labor costs are high. Especially the cost of hiring good doctors will greatly reduce profits."

This is why in the United States, doctors are among the highest-income groups alongside lawyers.

"Well, I understand this. Let's contact them first, and then other hospitals can also contact them. What I want is a scale similar to HCA, do you understand?"

"clear."

"That's it for now, I'm still in the hospital. Come back to Smith Tower later and give me a detailed plan."

"no problem."

"Both - all - all"

The sound of hanging up came from the phone. After confirming that the boss had hung up, Allen put down the phone.

He looked at the people in the Smith Group and said directly: "I don't know why our boss suddenly became interested in the hospital. But everyone heard the call just now. Let's get started. Everyone, we have new work to do. !"

Everyone nodded in agreement and started their respective tasks with a clear division of labor.

This is a daily routine in Smith Brain Group.