FIGURE 3-1 Healthcare Industry Stakeholders
There are also other consumer relationships in the healthcare industry. Consumers purchase drugs either from their provider or over the counter from pharmacies. The pharmaceutical companies market their products to physicians who in turn prescribe their products to their patients. The pharmaceutical companies also market their products to hospitals and outpatient facilities to encourage the use of their drugs in these facilities. Medical equipment companies also sell their products to facilities and individual providers.
Employers
Employers consist of both private and public employers. The healthcare industry is the largest U.S. employer. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) , there are several segments of the healthcare industry, including ambulatory healthcare services, hospitals, and nursing and residential care facilities . Ambulatory healthcare services are comprised of physicians, dentists, other health practitioners, outpatient care centers, medical and diagnostic laboratories, home healthcare services, and other ambulatory care. The hospital segment provides inpatient services primarily with outpatient as a secondary source. It provides general and surgical care, psychiatric substance-abuse hospitals, and other specialty hospitals. Residential care facilities include nursing care, mental health, substance abuse and mental disabilities, community care for the elderly, and other residential care facilities (BLS, 2016b). Healthcare employment opportunities can be more easily found in large states such as California, New York, Texas, and Florida (BLS, 2016c). Employers outside the healthcare industry are also stakeholders because they provide a large percentage of health insurance coverage to individuals nationwide.
Hospitals
There are approximately 11,000 hospitals in the United States. Hospitals provide total medical care that ranges from diagnostic services to surgery and continuous nursing care. They traditionally provide inpatient care, although more hospital systems are also providing outpatient care. Some hospitals specialize in treatments for cancer, children’s health, or mental health. It is important to note that hospitals are an integral component of the healthcare system. Many uninsured and underinsured individuals present themselves at emergency departments (EDs) across the country and use EDs as their primary care provider. In 2013, more than 136 million individuals presented themselves to the ED as their entry into health care. During times of public health crises, hospitals are the backbone of providing care. In 2015, hospitals provided $46.4 billion in uncompensated care, an increase of $7.1 billion from 2010 (American Hospital Association, 2016).