Mo. physicians boast $20B economic impact

Last edited 2:21 p.m., June 10, 2014

Although Missouri physicians are primarily focused on providing patient care, a new study found the jobs and revenue their practices generate contributes significantly to the Show-Me State’s economy.

Missouri physicians generate $20.3 billion in economic activity in Missouri annually, according to a joint study by the Missouri State Medical Association and the American Medical Association. Missouri’s 13,735 patient care physicians support 143,424 jobs across the state, averaging 10.4 jobs and $1.5 million in economic output per doctor.

“Physicians carry tremendous responsibility as skilled healers charged with safeguarding healthy communities, but their positive impact isn’t confined to the exam room,” said AMA President Ardis Dee Hoven, in a news release. “The new study illustrates that physicians are strong economic drivers that are woven into their local communities by the economic growth, opportunity and prosperity they generate.”

According to Springfield Business Journal list research, the Springfield area’s six largest hospitals employ 1,408 physicians and more than 23,000 people overall.

“Physicians are the first line of service at any hospital and without them there wouldn’t be a need for hospitals or clinics,” said Andrea Harp, communications manager for Ozarks Community Hospital. “Because of the work of each physician, numerous people have jobs.”

Harp said as of November, OCH employs 80 local physicians who support a staff of 469 full-time and 104 part-time employees in the Springfield area. In total, OCH pays $17 million in physician salaries annually, averaging about $212,500 per doctor.

According to the study, which calculated physician impact on four key economic barometers, each physician in Missouri supports an average of $839,099 in total wages and benefits and contributes to a total of $11.5 million statewide. In addition, each physician supports $57,130 in local and state tax revenues and contributed to a total of $784.7 million in tax revenues statewide.

By comparison, patient care physicians contribute more to the state economy than higher education, home health care, legal services or nursing and residential care, the study concluded.

“We have two pillars in the local Springfield economy: Higher education and health care,” said Jim Anderson, president of the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce. “It may have its ups and downs, but those jobs are not moving off shore.

“Our health care providers serve more than 1 million people in a four-state area.”

According to a 2006 study by St. Louis research firm Development Strategies Inc., health care had a $4.5 billion economic impact on the Springfield metropolitan area economy annually. Anderson said since that time, the number has increased.

“We haven’t done a recent study, but I can say without a doubt the impact of the health care industry in southwest Missouri is vital,” he said. “When an industry employs more than 30,000 people, it has an impact on the community.”

Springfield chamber Senior Vice President of Economic Development Ryan Mooney said health care employs 36,200 workers in the five-county Springfield metropolitan statistical area, about 18 percent of the total workforce.

The area’s share of health care workers is 5 percent above the national average of 13.2 percent and higher than other major Midwestern hubs. About 15 percent of the St. Louis workforce is in the health care industry, while its 10 percent in Houston, Texas, and 14.5 percent in Minneapolis. The Queen City even outpaces major metropolitan cities, such as Boston, which came in at 16 percent.

Mooney said the sector also has bounced back more quickly following the recession. Since 2009, Springfield has seen employment growth of 7.1 percent across all sectors. In the health care industry, that number jumps to 11.7 percent.

“Cox and Mercy try to attract 50 new doctors each year to handle the workload,” Anderson said. “The biggest challenge they face is supply and demand for primary care physicians.

“It’s not a negative on the city, but we face a challenge when attracting new workers. That’s the law of supply and demand, you always need more.”

Anderson said area physicians and hospitals also have an intangible impact on the community, helping improve quality of life in the Springfield area through support of the arts, culture and recreation.

Harp said Missouri physicians are poised to have an even greater impact on the state if Medicaid expansion passes the legislature.

“OCH has a hospital in Arkansas, as well, where they have passed expansion,” she said. “The need grew, so our number of doctors grew. That has an effect on the economy.”

An economic impact study by the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center shows a significant boost for the Show-Me State economy should legislators approve Medicaid expansion.

According to the analysis, the expansion of Medicaid eligibility for adults earning up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level would result in the creation of 23,868 jobs, $9.9 billion in new wages and $14.6 billion in new gross state product between 2015 and 2022. Medicaid expansion also would generate $402 million in new state general revenue 2015-22, including $53 million in new general revenue in 2015, according to SBJ archives.

The Missouri General Assembly did not pass Medicaid expansion measures in 2013, and according to Associated Press reports, legislation has been introduced in the General Assembly this session, but the Republican-led legislature is unlikely to be swayed.

“If you give health care the opportunity to grow, it will,” Harp said. “The need is there, and the doctors will follow.