Financial Sustainability of Hospitals and Equity in Healthcare Access: Using the Social Resource-Based View

Abstract

Ensuring financial sustainability is crucial for the long-term success of any organization, as it determines whether it can continue to operate and achieve its mission. While previous studies explored how organizational resources and capabilities affect financial performance, there is limited research on how social and environmental factors impact financial sustainability. This study employs the social resource-based view (SRBV) framework to investigate whether healthcare service providers situated in low-income and minority communities with higher health risks are more financially unsustainable. Our findings reveal that hospitals’ community outreach is a crucial capability for financial sustainability, supporting the assumptions of the social resource-based view. However, the positive effects of community outreach do not hold for hospitals located within minority communities.

Keywords:

• Equity
• financial performance
• healthcare
• organizational sustainability
• social resource-based view