The behavioral health workforce faces considerable challenges, including demand for behavioral health services, changes to the health system under the Affordable Care Act, the return of war veterans with behavioral health needs, and a shift from incarceration to treatment-oriented behavioral health care in the criminal justice system. These changes place additional strain on the existing…
In conjunction with other legislation, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) is transforming medical care in the United States. The ACA is seeking to improve patient and population health outcomes while lowering costs. One mechanism is to incentivize the use of interprofessional health teams in primary and specialty care settings. These changes require reconfiguring and…
Significant Federal investments have motivated many community health centers (CHCs) to implement electronic health records (EHRs) in recent years. Because CHCs are known to use flexible and innovative staffing models, their uptake of EHRs creates a unique opportunity to study how new technology intersects with staffing changes to influence care delivery. This report helps to…
Telehealth has long been viewed as an important pathway for increasing access to care for underserved populations, while providing high quality care at low cost. The spread of telehealth in the United States, however, has been hampered by a range of reimbursement, equipment costs, and licensure barriers. This report examines the extent to which…
As demand for greater and more diverse behavioral health care services increases, expansion of occupational scopes of practice (SOPs) has been suggested as one mechanism for enhancing workforce capacity. SOPs that are uniform for a given occupation across states, and complementary across behavioral health occupations, may help ensure that a full range of mental health…
Social work scopes of practice (SOPs) define the services and functions that are allowed by social workers. However, no studies have been conducted to assess the uniformity, or lack thereof, of the profession’s regulations across each state. As the need for social workers increases, the capacities of social workers will increase as well. This policy…
Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) programs and degrees have increased substantially in recent years and there has been controversy surrounding whether more advanced practiced registered nurses should be prepared by DNP programs that are lengthier and more expensive than other masters degree programs. However, little research has been conducted that explores the role of DNP-prepared…
This report compares national estimates of the supply and characteristics of 9 types of allied health workers drawn from 4 publicly available national data sources: the American Community Survey (ACS), the Current Population Survey (CPS), the Occupational Employment Statistics (OES), and the National Provider Identifier (NPI) Registry. The 9 occupations (or occupation groups) examined are…
Despite initiatives at the local, state, and federal levels, the underrepresentation of Blacks, Hispanic/Latinos (H/L), and American Indian/Alaska Natives (AI/AN) among dentists persists. Improving workforce diversity promotes social justice and also increases access, health equity, and health care quality, particularly for minority populations. This article quantifies the shortage of underrepresented minority (URM) dentists and their…
Mobile integrated healthcare-community paramedicine (MIH-CP) is a new model of care that allows for a broader range of services in the community than more traditional emergency responses that often involve transporting patients to emergency departments. There is growing but limited evidence that suggests MIH-CP has potential to improve outcomes for patients needing long-term care (LTC)….
