Allied Health Personnel in Physicians’ Offices: An Econometric Approach

Abstract

This paper develops a simultaneous equation model of allied health personnel employed in physicians’ offices, which include nursing, technical and secretarial-clerical workers. The first three equations explain weekly hours demanded of each of the three types of allied health personnel as functions of the degree of delegation of tasks; own wage; visits; own capital; and, for nurses, the technician wage and, for technicians, the nurse wage. The fourth equation explains degree of delegation as a function of employment of all three types of allied health personnel, nurse rooms, technician rooms, malpractice insurance premiums, and percentages of low- and middle-income patients. The model was estimated separately for four specialties, general family practice, internal medicine, obstetrics-gynecology and pediatrics, using, data for solo practice physicians obtained from the Seventh Periodic Survey of Physicians, conducted by the American Medical Association in 1972. Estimated parameters of the model and implied elasticities of demand for allied health personnel are reported.

The paper reports on research in progress on Contract No. HSM 110-70-354 from the National Center for Health Services Research and Development, U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare. The authors wish to acknowledge useful suggestions and comments from colleagues at both the University of Southern California and the American Medical Association. We are especially grateful to Bud S. Schnierle, of the A.M.A., for computational assistance.