Why?
What is my core value?
“I believe in looking after your future with greater certainty.“
David Dahm
Health and Life CEO and Founder
BA (Acc.), CA.,FCPA,CTA, FFin, CPM, FAAPM, FAIM, FGLF,
Registered Tax Agent,
Former AGPAL Surveyor
10 years of service
Why I care about healthcare
Never Give Up: How One Horrific Moment can be the Catalyst for Positive Change
National Health Practice Advisers, Accounting and Tax
“Creating a sustainable and socially responsible health care system”
Advisers to the BRW Fast 100 Medical Practice
Launched in 2012, this coffee table book is is about inspirational successful South Australian men in business. This wonderful project raised $40,000 for Prostate Cancer.
For more great stories go to BBQ to Boardroom at http://bit.ly/OGN0Xr .
David was nominated and this what they said about him…
“David Dahm, is one of modern society’s ultimate contradictions – a fascinating accountant, a man who uses numbers, to read the inner thoughts, journeys and destinations of the person or company whose numbers he is poring over. So, if you’ve something to hide, don’t call David, but if you’re keen to discover the mystery hidden in your numbers, there is no better searcher. Conforming to stereo-types is certainly not a characteristic of this hard-working son of India who was NZ born but utterly Australian. David, who anglicised and shortened his lengthy Indian name, to make it easier for Australians to pronounce and better blend into his adopted world, found himself and married an Australian-Indian occupational therapist who has blessed him with three children.
The journey of this extraordinary man is laced with heartache, rejection and the coming to terms with his unique place in his adopted country. He smashes the perception of accountants as boring but still has the accountant’s tendency to control the world’s view of him. While shy to reveal the details of a riveting life, David is thoroughly engaging when talking about the secrets figures reveal. “It is your life expressed in numbers which can be quite revealing, because numbers don’t lie.” It’s not a threat, mind you, merely an insight into his craft.
David’s passion, however, is financial and health literacy. It was the reason he established the One Moment Foundation – because change happens in an instant – and he promotes change to break the nexus between ill health and poverty. His insight into that link came about when, after working long hours and falling asleep at the wheel, he piloted his car off the road and into a tree. Fighting for survival doesn’t leave you much time or energy to fight for your livelihood and the ensuing epiphany steeled David for a lifetime commitment to his cause. From such traumatic beginnings, he developed a real interest in helping deprived children as the solution to breaking the poverty cycle.
His practical passion is to create a model to deliver health that is affordable and of value. The objective is to have self empowered patients and providers where patient sovereignty is not just a right but a shared responsibility. Currently, he believes, the industry serves a system and not the person. His company, Health and Life, has looked after the books of 1200 medical and healthcare professionals and hospital units around the country and a few years ago he even developed the concept of a healthcare and community facility that delivered on his dream. It was a Super Clinic that had everyone who mattered, on-side, but was scuttled by local Council politics.
Dreams, however, don’t die with David and merely wait to be re-surface, when times change. And, believes David, the times are a’changing. “Any fool can manage when funds are plentiful and accountability non-existent,” says David, “the challenge is to manage a diminished cash flow when everybody is watching with eagle eyes, how much you spend and what you spend it on.” It’s when the latter is in play, argues David, that he comes to the fore, trading in integrity and avoiding any moral hazards. Transparency and accountability are key words in establishing “the price of certainty”. The quote is the mantra he has identified as the core of any relationship and demands a shared understanding between patient, provider and the community. “People want certainty above all else.
Ultimately we all pursue happiness ,and money is a result of what we do and not why we do it. We pay a price for certainty both in human and financial terms.” That’s the philosopher speaking, the considered man who can spark irrational responses simply by speaking the truth, much like a man the young David much admires, another Indian greatly influenced by Western thought – Mahatma Gandhi who said there are enough resources for everyman’s need not everyman’s greed, as well as the guru of all things good in economics, Milton Friedman. “The point is to understand and not just to know,” he emphasises, paraphrasing Einstein, “and to work out exactly what happiness actually means to you.”
Happiness, for David, is to be connected to your community, to act with integrity so you can sleep soundly and leave as positive a mark as you can. This accountant, activist, philosopher is definitely an idealist and that is borne out by his definition of himself as a “patient advocate”, who seeks to reconcile patient and providers expectations. “Looking after yourself is the starting point,” he adds. Women are vital to David’s grand plan, which is why he supports the almost exclusively female sport of netball. “Women are the most influential people in any society and we must nurture and protect them.” Helping people to become more self empowered and aspirational via health and financial literacy programs, he hopes, will be his enduring legacy.”
To see a photo of my crashed car, read on…
For more insights visit our blog.
About me: David Dahm BA (Acc.), CA., FCPA, CTA, FFin, CPM, FAAPM, FAIM, FGLF.
Chartered Accountant, Chartered Tax Adviser, Registered Tax Agent, Former AGPAL Surveyor 10 years of service
David Dahm is CEO and founder of the national medical and healthcare chartered accounting firm Health and Life and global Founder and CEO of the not for profit project the International Healthcare Standards and Ethics Board (www.ihseb.org)
After a serious work related car accident in 1989, and nine operations later I continue to be a patient and provider advocate. I enter my third decade as a national Chartered Accountant for Medical and Healthcare practices in Australia. I am a former 10-year Australian General Practice Accreditation surveyor. I come from a medico family. I have served on the AAPM national Board and was the inaugural national Chair of the Certified Practice Manager CPM post nominal. I continue to provide accounting tax and practice management advice to many practices all over Australia.
You know who you are and I thank you for this real honour and privilege to serve you and your community through you. Note, I am not a lawyer please seek appropriate legal and accounting advice. This information is for general information and discussion only.
