Dignity as a competitive business model

Across the U.S., the realities of healthcare affordability are reaching a breaking point, with premiums and out-of-pocket costs straining household budgets and forcing some families to consider going without coverage or delaying care, simply because they cannot pay. This isn’t just about numbers on a spreadsheet. It’s about everyday decisions: skipping preventive visits, postponing prescriptions, or weighing health needs against rent and groceries. As healthcare costs grow while federal funds and subsidies shift, our systems are under duress, and people are being forced to make impossible choices. In this context, the question for business leaders, in healthcare and beyond, is clear: How do we design operating models that are resilient to these pressures, and genuinely responsive for the people they serve? THE BUSINESS CASE IS STRAIGHTFORWARD Dignity is efficient. We see this every day in community health, where centering dignity over efficiency alone transforms bottom lines. When pati