A recent economic impact analysis aims to quantify the role osteopathic medicine plays in the U.S. healthcare system and explore what might be lost if this branch of medicine were absent. Robert A. Cain, DO, FACOI, FAODM, president and CEO of the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine, explained that this report is the first of two complementary studies—paired with an upcoming research publication—intended to deliver insights into the osteopathic physician workforce, its financial footprint, and how practitioners trained with an osteopathic philosophy affect community health and regional economies.
Medical Economics: At the end of 2025, the Association released an economic impact report. What prompted its creation?
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Osteopathic medical education: Studying the economic effects
A new economic impact report emerged from an effort to understand the value osteopathic medicine brings to the health care system and to answer fundamental questions about what would be lost without osteopathic medicine. Robert A. Cain, DO, FACOI, FAODM, president and CEO of American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine. Here he explains that the report is the first of two efforts — alongside a research report — designed to provide data on the osteopathic workforce, its economic effects, and how physicians trained with an osteopathic mindset influence local health care and economies. n nMedical Economics: In late 2025, the Association published an economic impact report. How did that report come about?