Ambulatory Health Care Services: NAICS 621

About the Ambulatory Health Care Services subsector

The ambulatory health care services subsector is part of the health care and social assistance sector.

Industries in the Ambulatory Health Care Services subsector provide health care services directly or indirectly to ambulatory patients and do not usually provide inpatient services. Health practitioners in this subsector provide outpatient services, with the facilities and equipment not usually being the most significant part of the production process.

North American Industry Classification System

The ambulatory health care services subsector consists of these industry groups:

  • Offices of Physicians: NAICS 6211
  • Offices of Dentists: NAICS 6212
  • Offices of Other Health Practitioners: NAICS 6213
  • Outpatient Care Centers: NAICS 6214
  • Medical and Diagnostic Laboratories: NAICS 6215
  • Home Health Care Services: NAICS 6216
  • Other Ambulatory Health Care Services: NAICS 6219

Workforce Statistics

This section provides information relating to employment in ambulatory health care services. These data are obtained from employer or establishment surveys. The following tables present an overview of the industry including the number of jobs, mass layoffs, data for occupations common to the industry, and projections of occupational employment change.

Employment and Layoffs

Data series Back
data
Jun.
2008
Jul.
2008
Aug.
2008
Sep.
2008

Employment (in thousands)

 

Employment, all employees (seasonally adjusted)

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5,667.7 5,693.2 (P) 5,706.4 (P) 5,721.3

Employment, nonsupervisory workers

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4,828.3 4,841.4 (P) 4,859.2  

Layoffs

 

Mass layoff events

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12 6 4  

Initial claimants for unemployment benefits

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886 283 277  

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics, Mass Layoff Statistics)

Extended Mass Layoffs

Data series Back
data
3rd quarter
2007
4th quarter
2007
1st quarter
2008
2nd quarter
2008

Extended mass layoff events

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- (1) - (P) 5 (P) 8

Separations

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- (1) - (P) 515 (P) 798

Initial claimants

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- (1) - (P) 503 (P) 726

Footnotes
(1) Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards.
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Mass Layoff Statistics)

Employment by Occupation

Data series Employment,
2007

Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses

170,380

Medical and health services managers

59,680

Medical assistants

348,560

Medical secretaries

291,030

Registered nurses

435,140

Note: These employment estimates include employment in both the private-sector and government.

(Source: Occupational Employment Statistics)

Projections

For projected (future) employment estimates, see the National Employment Matrix, which includes employment estimates by industry and occupation for ambulatory health care services.

(Source: Office of Occupational Statistics and Employment Projections)

Earnings and Hours

This section presents data on employee earnings and weekly hours. The latest industry averages of hourly earnings and weekly hours for production or nonsupervisory employees are shown. In addition, recent hourly and annual earnings are shown for occupations commonly found in ambulatory health care services.

Earnings and Hours of Production Workers

Data series Back
data
May
2008
Jun.
2008
Jul.
2008
Aug.
2008

Average hourly earnings

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$20.45 $20.38 $20.40 (P) $20.36

Average weekly hours

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31.3 31.6 31.1 (P) 31.3

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Earnings by Occupation

Data series Wages, 2007
Hourly Annual
Median Mean Median Mean

Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses

$17.38 $17.93 $36,160 $37,280

Medical and health services managers

$34.31 $39.44 $71,360 $82,020

Medical assistants

$13.15 $13.46 $27,360 $28,000

Medical secretaries

$14.02 $14.54 $29,170 $30,240

Registered nurses

$27.50 $29.36 $57,200 $61,060

(Source: Occupational Employment Statistics)

Work-related Fatalities, Injuries, and Illnesses

This section presents data for the industry on the number of workplace fatalities and the rates of workplace injuries and illnesses per 100 full-time workers in ambulatory health care services. An injury or illness is considered to be work-related if an event or exposure in the work environment either caused or contributed to the resulting condition or significantly aggravated a pre-existing condition.

Data series 2004 2005 2006 2007

Fatalities

 

Number of fatalities

57 54 57 (P) 54

Rate of injury and illness cases per 100 full-time workers

 

Total recordable cases

3.3 2.8 3.1  

Cases involving days away from work, job restriction, or transfer

1.2 1.0 1.1  

Cases involving days away from work

0.8 0.6 0.8  

Cases involving days of job transfer or restriction

0.4 0.3 0.3  

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities)

Workplace Trends

This section presents data on the number of establishments in ambulatory health care services.

Establishments

Data series Back
data
1st quarter
2007
2nd quarter
2007
3rd quarter
2007
4th quarter
2007

Number of establishments

 

Private industry

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(P) 505,308 (P) 508,226 (P) 511,924 (P) 513,415

Local government

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(P) 1,872 (P) 1,870 (P) 1,877 (P) 1,902

State government

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(P) 1,035 (P) 990 (P) 1,009 (P) 1,015

Federal government

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(P) 124 (P) 131 (P) 132 (P) 134

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages)

Other BLS Resources

Career Guide to Industries

To learn about careers from an industry perspective, see the Career Guide to Industries.

 

Data extracted on: October 08, 2008