A 2015 Institute of Medicine report indicated that there is much work needed to both build educational capacity and increase diversity in the registered nurse (RN) workforce. There are also reports suggesting that approximately 33% of RNs will exit the workforce by 2022, as baby boomer nurses retire. Approximately 730,000 licensed practical nurses (LPNs) are…
The expansion of access to treatment and preventative services has led to an increase in interprofessional healthcare teams. Integrating social workers onto these teams requires that all members of the team understand what roles and functions social workers can bring to the table. This article describes a case of a social worker on an interprofessional…
Many Medicare recipients who are discharged from the hospital after suffering from a stroke are readmitted. Some patients who have suffered a stroke and are discharged from the hospital receive occupational or physical therapy in the home or some other outpatient setting. This article describes a cohort analysis of Medicare claims from 2010 to 2013…
North Carolina is in need of a more diverse registered nurse workforce. Licensed practical nurses making a transition to registered nurses may provide a solution, but little is known about this transition process. This article describes a cohort analysis of licensed practical nurses from 2001 to 2013 to compare key characteristics of those who did…
In primary care settings, social workers are increasingly helping to deliver care as part of integrated teams of professionals. However, little is known about the functions of these interprofessional teams that include social workers and the value that social workers bring to those teams. This article describes a systematic review of randomized controlled trials to…
Musculoskeletal conditions are incredibly common, affecting more than half of adults in the United States. Physical therapy (PT) is recommended as an essential component in the treatment of these conditions. However, many primary care physicians (PCPs), who are the first point of contact for those patients seeking treatment for musculoskeletal conditions, are often encouraged to…
Social workers are now doing more of their work in integrated health settings that require them to perform a variety of different roles and skills. As these settings are often more complex, the roles that social workers perform in them is not well understood. This article describes a study which utilized an online survey of…
Co-location of physical and behavioral health is important to integrated care as it facilitates provider communication and continuity of care. However, given the increases in behavioral health and integrated care, our understanding of factors associated with co-location is outdated. This brief describes an update to a past study conducted in 2010 that examined co-location data…
Title VII, Section 747, of the Public Health Service Act directs funding to medical schools and residency programs to strengthen the primary care workforce in underserved communities. Previous research found that physicians who attended a Title VII funded medical school were more likely to practice in primary care, locate in underserved communities, practice in community…
Due to adjustments in health insurance and payment models, healthcare delivery systems are changing rapidly. Unfortunately, many health professionals have not been trained to properly take on these changes in delivery. This article describes strategies for how academic health centers can be utilized to retrain members of the existing health workforce to best adjust to…
