Statistics on the Healthcare Industry

The U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics has various statistics concerning the healthcare industry. The following information can help a prospective healthcare student get a grasp on this exciting, exploding field they are about to enter:

• In 2006, the healthcare industry provided 14 million jobs, 13.6 million for wage and salary, and 438,000 jobs for the self-employed.
  
• 7 of the 20 fastest growing occupations are healthcare related.
  
• Healthcare will generate 3 million new wage and salary jobs by 2016, more than any other industry.
  
• Education level is diverse: many jobs require less than four years of college training, but health diagnosis and treatment practitioners are among the most educated workers.
  
• About 580,000 organizations make up the healthcare industry. These all vary greatly in terms of size.
  
• Around 77% of healthcare establishments are offices of physicians, dentists, or other health practitioners.
  
• Although hospitals constitute only 1% of all healthcare establishments, they employ 35% of all healthcare workers.
  
• Clinical developments, such as infection control, less invasive surgical techniques, advances in reproductive technology, and gene therapy for cancer treatment, continue to increase the longevity and improve the quality of life of many Americans.
  
• Workers in offices of dentists averaged only 27.1 hours per week in 2006, while those in psychiatric and substance abuse hospitals averaged 35.7 hours, compared with 33.9 hours for all private industry.
  
• In 2006, the incidence of occupational injury and illness in hospitals was 8.1 cases per 100 full-time workers, compared with an average of 4.4 for private industry overall. Nursing care facilities had a higher rate of 9.8.