Prescription for economic impact

Westchester”™s private-practice physicians”™ offices ranked second among all businesses in the county in number of establishments in 2008 and third in personal income, according to a recent economic impact report sponsored by the Medical Society of the State of New York. The report also found Westchester”™s private medical offices ranked fifth in employment and seventh in corporate sales among industries in the county.

Westchester”™s private-practice medical industry ranked fourth in size among all counties in the state.

Statewide, private-practice physicians”™ offices ranked second among industries in number of business establishments, sixth in employment, seventh in personal income and thirteenth in corporate sales. The state”™s approximately 42,460 private-practice doctors contributed approximately $4.51 billion in state tax revenue in 2008 and $4.695 billion in local tax revenue.

The detailed study, prepared for the medical society by Specialized Analytics in partnership with Kavets, Rockler & Associates L.L.C., of Williamstown, Vt., also looked at additional contributions by private-practice physicians to the economy through indirect effects ”“ goods and services consumed by the industry while conducting business ”“ and induced effects – goods and services consumed by employees utilizing their wages. That broader impact statewide totaled 330,594 persons employed, personal income of about $24.1 billion and corporate sales of nearly $44.75 billion.

By 2020, those economic impacts on the state are projected to increase to total employment of about 474,200, personal income totaling $42.52 billion and total corporate sales of about $71.9 billion. Physicians”™ offices a decade from now are projected to generate about $7.97 billion in state tax revenue and $8.29 billion of local tax revenue.

In 2008, each private physician in New York supported an average of about 7.8 employees; personal income of $568,000; corporate sales of $1.054 million, state tax revenue of $106,000 and local tax revenue of $111,000.

The report found every $1 of private-practice medical care in the state generates total economic activity of more than $2.16, state tax revenue of nearly 22 cents and local tax revenue of nearly 23 cents.

Combining indirect and induced economic impacts with direct effects, physicians”™ offices in Westchester supported 10,454 full-time jobs in the county in 2008 and 11,230 jobs in the rest of the state. Their impact on total personal income amounted to about $1.148 billion in the county and about $721.88 million in the rest of the state. They spurred total corporate sales in 2008 of about $1.73 billion in Westchester and about $1.71 billion outside the county.

In 2008, every $1 spent on private-practice medical care in Westchester generated nearly $2.10 of total corporate sales in the state, including $1.06 in Westchester, and about 21 cents each in state tax revenue and local revenue.