A new report from the Wisconsin Medical Society and the American Medical Association shows doctors supported over 150,000 jobs in the state in 2015.
It measured the economic impact of the 12,598 active patient care physicians working in Wisconsin as of December 2015, focusing on four economic indicators: jobs, economic activity, wages and benefits, and state and local tax revenue.
“The positive impact of physicians extends beyond safeguarding the health and welfare of their patients,” said AMA President David Barbe. “The Economic Impact Study illustrates that physicians are woven into their local communities and have a vital role in fueling state economies by creating jobs, purchasing goods and services, and supporting public services through the tax revenue they generate.”
The report found that in 2015, doctors generated $13.3 billion in direct output and $12.5 billion in indirect output, for a total of $25.8 billion. That’s an average of just over $2 million per physician, and makes up about 8.5 percent of the state economy according to 2015 data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.
The report also found those 12,598 doctors directly created 60,669 jobs, and indirectly created 90,403 jobs for a total of 151,072 — about 12 jobs supported by each physician.
Direct wages and benefits totaled $9.4 billion, while indirect wages and benefits were $4 billion, for a total of $13.3 billion. The average wages and benefits per physician was $1.1 million.
Physicians generated $1.2 billion in state and local taxes in 2015, for an average of over $93,000 per physician, on average. This covers social insurance taxes, personal taxes, business taxes and indirect business taxes, such as sales taxes, motor vehicle registration fees, severance taxes and non-tax payments like rents or fines.
Every dollar paid for physician services in the state supported an additional 94 cents of economic activity, the report shows.
And an additional 6.8 jobs were supported for each $1 million of revenue earned by a physician’s practice, not counting clinical and administrative workers.
“Physicians make a difference in the lives of the patients and families they care for every day,” said Wisconsin Medical Society CEO Bud Chumbley. “And while the value of that physician/patient relationship is immeasurable, this report brings to light the added impact physicians have on Wisconsin’s economy — an impact that is enormous.”
Nationally, physicians added $2.3 trillion to the economy, supporting over 12.6 million jobs. They contributed $1 trillion in wages and benefits paid to U.S. workers, and generated nearly $93 billion in state and local tax revenue, the report shows.
See the report: http://www.physicianseconomicimpact.org/pdf/FullStateReports/WI-Study.pdf
–By Alex Moe
WisBusiness.com
