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Health Care Industry Resources

Health Care & Social Assistance – Sector Overview
This part gives you a quick overview of this industry sector, the number of businesses that comprise the sector broken down into large and small businesses along with a discussion about some issues and challenges facing the businesses.

Health Care & Social Assistance - List of Businesses
This section provides our readers with a listing of the businesses that are categorized under this industry classification.

Health Care & Social Assistance - Resource Directory
A great tool put together painstakingly by our staff that identifies the major associations and organizations that serve the various businesses in this industry classification.  Besides the name and website, you will also find a brief description about the organization.  Our small business owners always thank us for putting this tool together – we are confident that you will find it useful as well.

HEALTH CARE & SOCIAL ASSISTANCE – SECTOR OVERVIEW

The first step in determining how to write a business plan at Trident Consultants involves identifying the correct business sector to which our client’s business belongs.  The health care and leasing sector is a vast industry classification as per the NAICS – North American Industry Classification System.  It covers businesses like offices of doctors, dentists, optometrists, chiropractors, mental health professionals, outpatient care centers, HMOs, diagnostic laboratories, home health care, nursing homes, homes for the elderly, individual and family services, community food centers, day care centers and many others.  (A detailed listing of health care & social assistance businesses has been included at the end of this page.)

There are 1.3 million larger businesses (with employees) in this industry sector that employ over 16 million people with a total payroll of $589 billion.  On average the larger health care and social assistance firms have at least 12 employees and the average income nationally for each of these employees is about $36k.

In the small business world covering firms with no employees, there are 1.6 million such health care and social assistance firms with total gross receipts of $50 billion and the average annual income as reported by each firm of around $30k.

The health care sector employs almost 10% of the nation’s population and is a major contributor the economic growth accounting for almost 16% of the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP.)

A business plan for any business in the health care sector has to address the rapidly escalating cost of health care as the most important issues facing this industry and the economy in general.  Health care costs doubled from 1990 to 2000 and have been growing at about 7% annual for the past few years.  The business plan must account for this growth in costs in its financial projections.

Nobody can deny the increasing role of government in health care.  A sound business plan for a health care business must address the increasing dependence on government programs like Medicare and Medicaid to pay its bills.  In 1970 the government used to pay 38% of the nations health care bill – today it pays 46%.  This has very significant implications for businesses that choose not to accept Medicare and Medicaid patients as it will affect their revenue base significantly especially if they are located in low to middle income neighborhoods.  A business plan must also address the plans by the government to promote a universal health care plan where the government will become the dominant buyer of services and products from the private sector and will largely be able to affect the pricing of these drugs and services which until now have been decided by the market place.

The high cost of the uninsured is yet another major burden on our health care system and the business plan must address the fact that 47 million people in our country are currently uninsured.  Businesses like urban hospital do not have the ability to turn away patients who come to them for treatment through their emergency rooms and this has negatively affected their cash flows and survival.  Any business dependent on a large local health care provider must understand that the long term viability of their own business depends on the viability and success of the provider itself.  A sound business plan must address this.

Nursing home care for the elderly will become a service that will be more in demand as time passes on and our populations begins to age.  The first of the baby boomers just entered retirement age and it expected that in the next 15 to 25 years our society will enter a phrase called “the graying of America”.  A business plan for a health care firm must understand the local demographics and the subtle changes within the target market.

Medical errors are common in any health care business and a business plan must account for the cost of these errors and the possible liabilities arising from them.  A sound plan must include the cost of carrying adequate liability insurance.  In the case of a doctors practice this can cost many thousands of dollars depending on the kind of practice the physicians offer.  It is well known in the northeast that an OBGYN practice has to pay between $50k to $80k a year in insurance costs to cover unforeseen medical malpractice.

The child day care business has grown tremendously since the early 1990’s and the cost of day care has grown at about the same rate as that of health care.  While this sector of the economy is not as regulated as others, it nevertheless requires a staff of professionals.  A business plan for a day care center must include a provision for employee expense since that is a very large expense for a day care service.

If you are starting a business offering health care of social assistance services, or are already established but are looking to grow, secure a partner, venture capital or business loans, we would be happy to help

HEALTH CARE & SOCIAL ASSISTANCE – LIST OF BUSINESSES 

The following is a list of the various businesses that fall under this industry sector:

Ambulatory Health Care Services
Offices of Physicians
Offices of Physicians (except Mental Health Specialists)
Offices of Physicians, Mental Health Specialists
Offices of Dentists

Offices of Other Health Practitioners
Offices of Chiropractors
Offices of Optometrists
Offices of Mental Health Practitioners (except Physicians)
Offices of Physical, Occupational and Speech Therapists, and Audiologists
Offices of All Other Health Practitioners
Offices of Podiatrists

Offices of All Other Miscellaneous Health Practitioners
Outpatient Care Centers
Family Planning Centers
Outpatient Mental Health and Substance Abuse Centers
Other Outpatient Care Centers
HMO Medical Centers
Kidney Dialysis Centers
Freestanding Ambulatory Surgical and Emergency Centers
All Other Outpatient Care Centers
Medical Laboratories
Diagnostic Imaging Centers

Home Health Care Services
Home Health Care Services
Other Ambulatory Health Care Services
Ambulance Services
Blood and Organ Banks
All Other Miscellaneous Ambulatory Health Care Services

Hospitals
General Medical and Surgical Hospitals
Psychiatric and Substance Abuse Hospitals
Specialty (except Psychiatric and Substance Abuse) Hospitals

Nursing and Residential Care Facilities
Nursing Care Facilities
Residential Mental Retardation Facilities
Residential Mental Health and Substance Abuse Facilities
Community Care Facilities for the Elderly
Continuing Care Retirement Communities
Homes for the Elderly
Other Residential Care Facilities

Social Assistance
Individual and Family Services
Child and Youth Services
Services for the Elderly and Persons with Disabilities
Other Individual and Family Services
Community Food Services
Community Housing Services
Temporary Shelters
Other Community Housing Services
Emergency and Other Relief Services
Vocational Rehabilitation Services
Child Day Care Services