The sign of a progressive society is often attributed to its health system. There are different measures of the success of a health system; one potential means is the proportion of doctors within a population or territory.
To mark National Doctors’ Day, which is held in the U.S. on March 30th, the personal-finance website WalletHub has released a report on 2022’s Best & Worst States for Doctors. This is provided state-by-state.
To identify the best states for those in the business of saving lives, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 19 key metrics. The data set ranges from the average annual wage of physicians to hospitals per capita to the quality of the public hospital system.
The outcome of the analysis was with the best ten states for doctors:
1. South Dakota
2. Minnesota
3. Wisconsin
4. Montana
5. Idaho
6. Iowa
7. Nebraska
8. Kansas
9. North Dakota
10. Mississippi
In contrast, the most poorly served areas for medics were identified as:
42. Oregon
43. Massachusetts
44. Vermont
45. Hawaii
46. Alaska
47. New Jersey
48. Delaware
49. District of Columbia
50. New York
51. Rhode Island
Within the 51 territories, there were some interesting variations. For example, with pay rates for medics (which is a factor for attracting doctors to take up residency within a state), Mississippi has the highest average annual wage for surgeons (adjusted for cost of living) at $320,629. This figure is which is 1.9 times higher than in California, which pays physicians the lowest, at $168,876.
In terms of the numbers of available medics, Mississippi has the lowest number of physicians per 1,000 residents, 1.2. This correlates with the wage rate, showing how the market is influenced by demand. The numbers employed in Mississippi are 4.7 times lower than in the District of Columbia, which has the highest rate of employment at 5.9 per 1000 people.
Given that seniors often need more care and support, Florida has the highest projected share of the population aged 65 and older by 2030 at 27 percent, which is two times higher than in Utah, the lowest at 13 percent.
Another measure used to assess overall medical support is the suitability of the personal care received. Here, Nebraska has the lowest annual malpractice liability insurance rate at $4,530. This is 8.1 times lower than in New York, which stands at the highest at $36,659.
