Contact: Robbie Ward
STARKVILLE, Miss.--A recent study by a Mississippi State economist concludes that one new doctor practicing in a Mississippi county can have an economic impact ranging from $120,000-$2 million.
In a policy report for the Mississippi Center for Health Workforce, university associate professor Benjamin F. Blair analyzed the economic impact new physicians can have on a county's financial standing. According to the finance and economics department faculty member, the addition of new practicing physicians has measurable impacts on both local health-delivery services and job creation.
"The increased economic activity associated with a physician's practice supported an average of 31 jobs in the county economies," said Blair, also a research fellow at Mississippi State's Social Science Research Center and a university faculty member since 1997.
Blair's investigation involved 77 of Mississippi's 82 counties. Insufficient data was available for Carroll, Issaquena, Jasper, Jefferson, and Noxubee counties.
Blair, a University of Florida doctoral graduate, said the study shows Lamar County with the biggest economic boost--more than $14 million--as a result of new doctors. The statewide average is about $2 million per county.
Tunica County's economy registered the least impact, where only seven new jobs grew from the arrival of a new physician.
"The economic gains for specific counties in Mississippi from the addition of a new doctor depend on the health-care infrastructure already in that county," Blair observed.
Blair's research is based around a computer model called IMPLAN that uses information about existing infrastructure in each county. In factoring the results, the model assumes physicians are responsible for all economic activities at hospitals; half, at nursing homes and pharmacies.
Additional findings in Blair's report include, among others:
--Direct economic benefits result from prescribed medicines and other health-related items purchased from local businesses, as well as payments to hospitals for CT scans, MRIs and other high-technology diagnostic procedures.
--Indirect benefits occur as additional employees are hired in response to the increased delivery of medical services.
--New doctor-generated monies create a chain reaction as they multiply many times over in the normal course of local business.
The Mississippi Center for Health Workforce, based at MSU's Social Science Research Center, is part of the Northeast Mississippi Area Health Education Center, part of a state-wide program focusing on critical health-care issues. The Mississippi AHEC works to improve recruitment and retention of primary care providers in the state, including research to determine the economic importance of physicians, especially in rural areas.
For more information about Mississippi State University, see http://www.msstate.edu/.