Physicians Positively Impact Economy

August 9 , 2011 - From the Wall Street Journal’s Health Care Blog comes this report, and I quote:

Employment Report Shows Health Care Added 31,300 Jobs

By Katherine Hobson

“The U.S. economy added more jobs than expected last month. And the health-care industry showed particular strength, with 31,300 new jobs — higher than the average monthly increase seen in 2007, before the recession hit.

Here’s the Bureau of Labor Statistics chart showing sector-by-sector job growth, and here’s the overall report, which shows non-farm payrolls rose by 117,000 while the unemployment rate dropped slightly to 9.1%.

As the WSJ reported last month, health-care employment had been robust during the recession, but showed some weakening in the June report. That changed in July. Hospitals alone added 14,000 new jobs after losing 2,000 jobs the previous month.
Ambulatory care also added jobs — 6,300 in doctor’s offices and 3,100 in home health-care services.”

Not New News

This is not new news. Health care has added more than one million jobs since the recession began in 2007.. And it should be no surprise. Where ever you are, look around you. What is the biggest employer in your community? Most likely, it’s health care if you congregate hospitals, outpatient facilities, and doctors offices into one economic package.

And where would this economic growth be without doctors? Doctors deliver care in all of these settings. They would not exist without doctors. As one observer noted, “Hospitals without doctors would just be empty buildings with bad food.”

Studies by the George Medical Association and the American Medical Association have shown doctors positively impact state, local, and the ntional economies.
GEMS (Georgia Economic Modeling System) Study.

Georgia Report

A September 2008 study by the government of Georgia’s
– GEMS (Georgia Economic Modeling System), “The Estimated Impact of Private Physicians’ Offices in Georgia,” by Wes Clarke and Adam Jones of the Carl Vinson Institute of Government – indicates that in 2008, private physician offices in Georgia,

• supported nearly 190,000 jobs,

• generated more than $10 billion in private income,

• increased total economic activity by nearly $20 billion.

Impact of Each Private Physician

In Georgia, each private physician directly or indirectly supported or generated

• 13 additional jobs

• $640,000 in personal income

• $1.5 billion in total economic activity

• More than $1.2 billion in state revenues

• $15. billion in local government revenues.

AMA Report

An AMA report, released March 23, 2011, showed doctors are substantial drivers of the economic engine nationally, as well as on the state and local levels. The economic impact of doctors extends far beyond physician offices in a practical way. Doctors purchase goods and services, and medical practices create jobs by employing staff. Those workers spend their money in local economies, making other jobs possible. At every step of the way, tax revenues are generated -- about $100,000 per physician in state and local tax revenues in 2009.

Office-based doctors supported 4 million jobs and contributed $1.4 trillion in economic activity in 2009, according to the AMA report. On average, one doctor leads to $1.3 million in wages and benefits and $2.2 million in overall financial activity.

A physician supports an average 6.2 jobs, including his or her job, and that impact has been rising through the years. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said the number of people working in physician offices grew from 463,400 in 1972 to more than 2.3 million in 2010.

1. Reece, R.L., “Positive Impact of Private Practice on the Economy,” Medinnovation.com, November 1, 2008.

2. Victoria Staff Elliot, “Office-Based Doctors Support 4 Million Jobs, American Medical News, April 4, 2011


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