U.S. Medical Corps
Evidence and Statistics
A transparent foundation for institutional action
Evidence with context
Statistics are identified by source, population and period. The figures below describe the cited studies or reports and should not be generalized beyond their scope.
Emergency physician employer concentration
In a 2025 study of 3,998 U.S. hospital emergency departments, health system groups staffed 33.0% of visits and private equity groups 24.7%. Of 306 hospital referral regions, 258, or 84%, were highly concentrated. These are visit shares, not percentages of physicians classified as employees or contractors. The analysis combined 2024 ownership information with 2021 visit volumes.
Cai et al. Emergency Physician Employer Market Share and Concentration by Ownership Type, 2025
Career plans and professional opportunity
Among 2,711 surveyed graduating U.S. emergency medicine residents from the 2023 cohort, 24.1% reported plans for rural practice and 46.7% planned community or hybrid practice. The study measured intentions and included missing responses. Its findings support examining geographic opportunity, professional fulfillment and sustainable working arrangements.
Lu et al. Career Plans Among Graduating US Emergency Medicine Residents, 2026
The global emergency care opportunity
WHO reported in May 2025 that conditions accounting for more than half of deaths in low and middle income countries could be addressed through effective emergency care. The statement concerns conditions that emergency care can address; it does not mean all of those deaths are preventable. WHO also reported Basic Emergency Care training in more than 60 countries.
WHO. Strengthening acute care systems saves lives, 2025
Documenting partnership contributions
GAO identified gaps in the department wide inventory of civilian clinical training partnerships and in assessment of their contributions to readiness. A practical institutional response is to document participating activities, training records, responsibilities and common outcome measures. Existing partnerships named in the report are not represented as partners of this initiative.
GAO. Defense Health Care: Civilian Partnerships and Readiness, 2026