Ohio doctors ‘support’ $34B in economic activity, AMA report says

Office-based physicians “support” $34 billion in annual economic activity in Ohio, according to a report from the American Medical Association.

Ohio doctors also support 140,000 jobs and generate more than $20 billion in wages and benefits in the state, according to the report, which was produced by health insurer UnitedHealth subsidiary The Lewin Group. (The Lewin Group generated lots of controversy during the national health reform debate because conservatives often relied on its numbers and data to support their opposition to a Medicare-like government-run health plan, and labeled Lewin’s work as “nonpartisan,” without mentioning that such a plan would obviously harm Lewin’s parent company.)

It’s important to note the use of the word “support” in the report’s assessment of physicians’ financial impact. Essentially, “support” refers to both direct and indirect economic activity related to physicians. Here’s the contrast, according to (pdf) the report.

The direct impact is the value of output, jobs, wages and benefits, and taxes that are produced from patient-care activities provided in physician offices. The indirect impact includes the output, jobs, wages and benefits, and taxes generated in the industries that are supported by physicians’ offices.

So, for example, when the report says that each Ohio office-based physician supports an average of 5.8 jobs, that number describes more than just the employees who actually work for that physician.

Still, the report was hailed by the Ohio State Medical Association (OSMA) — the state’s top physician advocacy group — as an indicator of the importance of doctors to the state’s economy.

“At a time when our state continues to rebound from the recent poor economic conditions, we need to invest in areas, such as healthcare delivery, that are engines of economic activity in our state,” OSMA President Dr. Richard Ellison said.