Table 1. United States Physician and Practice Characteristics in 2015.
| No. (%) of Physicians | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Sexa | Practice Spending Regionb | Sole Proprietor Statusc | ||||||||
| Men | Women | Low | Average | High | Yes | No | No Answer | ||||
| All physicians | 933 295 | 150 375 | 596 857 | 186 063 | 205 302 | 682 598 | 45 395 | ||||
| Men | 620 166 (66.4) | 97 527 (15.7) | 396 881 (64.0) | 125 758 (20.3) | 141 944 (22.9) | 444 935 (71.7) | 33 287 (5.4) | ||||
| Women | 313 129 (33.6) | 52 848 (16.9) | 199 976 (63.9) | 60 305 (19.3) | 63 358 (20.2) | 237 663 (75.9) | 12 108 (3.9) | ||||
| Specialty | |||||||||||
| Surgical | 181 372 (19.4) | 136 327 (75.2) | 45 045 (24.8) | 28 436 (15.7) | 115 821 (63.9) | 37 115 (20.5) | 40 521 (22.3) | 132 632 (73.1) | 8219 (4.5) | ||
| Primary care | 431 819 (46.2) | 255 564 (59.2) | 176 255 (40.8) | 71 016 (16.4) | 274 927 (63.7) | 85 876 (19.9) | 95 305 (21.6) | 317 630 (73.6) | 18 884 (4.4) | ||
| Specialists | 221 255 (23.7) | 149 115 (67.4) | 72 140 (32.6) | 36 111 (16.3) | 142 553 (64.4) | 42 591 (19.3) | 52 338 (24.1) | 156 630 (70.8) | 12 287 (5.6) | ||
| Interventionalists | 98 849 (10.6) | 79 160 (80.1) | 19 689 (19.9) | 14 812 (15.0) | 63 556 (64.3) | 20 481 (20.7) | 17 138 (17.3) | 75 706 (76.6) | 6005 (6.1) | ||
| Surgery | |||||||||||
| Colorectal | 1523 (0.8) | 1216 (79.8) | 307 (20.2) | 200 (13.1) | 970 (63.7) | 353 (23.2) | 295 (19.4) | 1165 (76.5) | 63 (4.1) | ||
| Neurosurgery | 6759 (3.7) | 6154 (91.1) | 605 (9.0) | 1097 (16.2) | 4247 (62.8) | 1415 (20.9) | 1433 (21.2) | 5091 (75.3) | 235 (3.5) | ||
| Obstetrics/gynecology | 47 838 (26.4) | 22 492 (47.02) | 24 346 (53.0) | 7266 (15.2) | 30 772 (64.3) | 9800 (20.5) | 9926 (20.8) | 35 549 (74.3) | 2363 (4.9) | ||
| Ophthalmology | 21 509 (11.9) | 16 490 (76.7) | 5019 (23.3) | 3445 (16.0) | 13 628 (63.4) | 4436 (20.6) | 5171 (24.0) | 15 137 (70.4) | 1201 (5.6) | ||
| Oral/maxillofacial | 887 (0.5) | 809 (91.2) | 78 (8.8) | 167 (18.8) | 535 (60.3) | 185 (20.9) | 196 (22.1) | 612 (69.0) | 79 (8.9) | ||
| Orthopedic | 29 897 (16.5) | 27 935 (93.4) | 1962 (6.6) | 5163 (17.3) | 19 015 (63.6) | 5719 (19.1) | 5809 (19.4) | 22 943 (76.7) | 1145 (3.8) | ||
| Otolaryngology | 11 778 (6.5) | 9881 (83.9) | 1896 (16.1) | 1945 (16.5) | 7386 (62.7) | 2446 (20.8) | 2554 (21.7) | 8664 (73.6) | 559 (4.8) | ||
| Plastic | 4948 (2.7) | 4139 (83.7) | 809 (16.4) | 723 (14.6) | 3062 (61.9) | 1163 (23.5) | 2083 (42.1) | 2605 (52.6) | 260 (5.3) | ||
| General | 39 354 (21.7) | 31 678 (80.5) | 7676 (19.5) | 5956 (15.1) | 25 363 (64.5) | 8035 (20.4) | 9800 (24.9) | 27 942 (71.0) | 1612 (4.1) | ||
| Thoracic | 4903 (2.7) | 4611 (94.0) | 292 (6.0) | 674 (13.8) | 3130 (63.8) | 1099 (22.4) | 926 (18.9) | 3790 (77.3) | 187 (3.8) | ||
| Urology | 11 976 (6.6) | 10 921 (91.2) | 1055 (8.8) | 1800 (15.0) | 7712 (64.4) | 2464 (20.6) | 2328 (19.5) | 9133 (76.3) | 515 (4.3) | ||
| Primary care | |||||||||||
| Family medicine | 144 236 (33.4) | 90 034 (62.4) | 54 202 (37.6) | 28 454 (19.7) | 87 288 (60.5) | 28 494 (19.8) | 34 238 (23.7) | 104 012 (72.1) | 5986 (4.2) | ||
| Internal medicined | 202 897 (47.0) | 130 335 (64.2) | 72 562 (35.8) | 30 258 (14.9) | 131 783 (65.0) | 40 856 (20.1) | 46 337 (22.8) | 149 130 (73.5) | 7430 (3.7) | ||
| Pediatrics | 84 686 (19.6) | 35 195 (41.6) | 49 491 (58.4) | 12 304 (14.5) | 55 856 (66.0) | 16 526 (19.5) | 14 730 (17.4) | 64 488 (76.2) | 5468 (6.5) | ||
| Specialists | |||||||||||
| Allergy and immunology | 4346 (2.0) | 2877 (66.2) | 1469 (33.8) | 688 (15.8) | 2831 (65.2) | 827 (19.0) | 1176 (27.1) | 2909 (66.9) | 261 (6.0) | ||
| Dermatology | 13 563 (6.1) | 7446 (54.9) | 6117 (45.1) | 2291 (16.9) | 8527 (62.9) | 2745 (20.2) | 3538 (26.1) | 9423 (69.5) | 602 (4.4) | ||
| Emergency medicine | 50 979 (23.0) | 37 158 (72.9) | 13 821 (27.1) | 8239 (16.2) | 32 364 (63.5) | 10 376 (20.4) | 10 389 (20.4) | 37 306 (73.2) | 3284 (6.4) | ||
| Neurology | 18 002 (8.1) | 12 285 (68.3) | 5717 (31.8) | 2850 (15.8) | 11 646 (64.7) | 3506 (19.5) | 3870 (21.5) | 13 411 (74.5) | 720 (4) | ||
| Pathology | 19 030 (8.6) | 11 755 (61.8) | 7275 (38.2) | 2938 (15.4) | 12 135 (63.8) | 3957 (20.8) | 2929 (15.4) | 14 800 (77.8) | 1301 (6.8) | ||
| Physical medicine and rehabilitation | 13 257 (6.0) | 8343 (62.9) | 4914 (37.1) | 2179 (16.4) | 8415 (63.5) | 2663 (20.1) | 3607 (27.2) | 9049 (68.3) | 601 (4.5) | ||
| Psychiatry | 53 477 (24.1) | 31 887 (59.6) | 21 590 (40.4) | 8965 (16.8) | 35 859 (67.1) | 8653 (16.2) | 20 109 (37.6) | 30 782 (57.56) | 2586 (4.8) | ||
| Radiology | 47 325 (21.4) | 36 607 (77.4) | 10 718 (22.7) | 7735 (16.4) | 29 951 (63.3) | 9639 (20.4) | 6346 (13.4) | 38124 (80.6) | 2855 (6.0) | ||
| Other specialtye | 1276 (0.6) | 757 (59.3) | 519 (40.7) | 226 (17.7) | 825 (64.7) | 225 (17.6) | 374 (29.3) | 825 (64.7) | 77 (6.0) | ||
| Interventionalists | |||||||||||
| Anesthesiology | 53 949 (54.6) | 40 272 (74.7) | 13 677 (25.4) | 8598 (15.9) | 34 212 (63.4) | 11 139 (20.7) | 9503 (17.6) | 40 125 (74.4) | 4321 (8.0) | ||
| Cardiovascular disease | 29 443 (29.8) | 25 876 (87.9) | 3567 (12.1) | 3934 (13.4) | 19 264 (65.4) | 6245 (21.2) | 4705 (16.0) | 23 789 (80.8) | 949 (3.2) | ||
| Gastroenterology | 15 457 (15.6) | 13 012 (84.2) | 2445 (15.8) | 2280 (14.8) | 10 080 (65.2) | 3097 (20.0) | 2930 (19.0) | 11 792 (76.3) | 735 (4.8) | ||
a
Self-reported in National Plan and Provider Enumeration System (NPPES) and available as metadata variable “Provider Gender Code” with categories M or F.
b
Based on 2013 Dartmouth Atlas price-, age-, sex-, and race-adjusted mean spending per beneficiary divided into quintiles then grouped into tertiles (low, average, high) with the lowest quintile (<20th percentile) and highest quintile (>80th percentile) as the distinct low and high categories, respectively. Mean spending per beneficiary differed among low (mean, $7699; median, $7723; range,$6763-$8145), average (mean, $9492; median, $9500; range, $8171-$10 357), and high (mean, $11 254; median, $11 234; range, $10 373-$13 524) tertiles.
c
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services National Plan & Provider Enumeration System defines a sole proprietor as the only owner of a business that is not incorporated.
d
Includes hospitalists.
e
Includes clinical pharmacology (n = 69), independent medical examiner (n = 121), medical genetics (n = 892), legal medicine (n = 97), phlebology (n = 97).