title: Making a real difference. Beyond community service to community benefit.
abstract: Community benefits or community benefit? Plural or singular? In general, the "pluralists" come from a health insurance perspective and think about community benefits as elements, like benefits in health insurance contracts. The "singularists" come from a broader perspective, and think about community benefit like community service, as a broad direction and commitment related to mission. But there are important exceptions to this rule, of which the Michigan health & Hospital Association is an outstanding example. That organization clearly belongs in the camp of the singularists, but is currently with the pluralists, perhaps reflecting their strong commitment to a pluralistic health system.
authors.affiliation: Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Sigmond
mesh_terms: D018672:Community Health Planning / Q000458:organization & administration*; D003159:Community-Institutional Relations; D006764:Hospitals, Community / Q000458:organization & administration*; D008824:Michigan; D014481:United States