Therapy assistants represent approximately half of the therapy workforce in skilled nursing facilities. Employment of therapy assistants enables skilled nursing facilities to provide more therapy services at lower costs. As new payment mechanisms provide incentives for therapy in skilled nursing facilities, employment of therapy assistants may be a cost-effective way to continue to provide services…
Information on the supply of workers in a local job market is important when determining whether there are qualified workers to fill health care jobs in demand. The American Community Survey (ACS), a publicly available annual survey of over 3.5 million households conducted by the US Census Bureau, has been a regular source of information…
This rapid-response brief provides information about the respiratory therapist workforce in the US. It includes descriptions of the supply, distribution, and education pathways of the workforce. The brief also addresses COVID-19 emergency concerns about the respiratory therapist workforce capacity and examples of state approaches to address workforce gaps.
Chronic pain is widespread among US adults, and overreliance on pharmacological approaches to managing this pain has contributed to the nation’s opioid addiction crisis. There is growing recognition of the importance of directing patients towards non-pharmacological approaches to manage pain. This report compares 10 different health care occupations and certified practitioners in providing non-pharmacological pain…
Only about a quarter of physician assistants (PAs) practice in primary care and more are needed to enter primary care. In comparison, findings from this study found that nearly half of matriculating students entered with the intent to practice in primary care based on data from the 2013-2014 Physician Assistant Education Association Matriculating Student Survey…
Difficulties in recruiting allied health professionals to rural and underserved areas are cause for concern given projections of increasing demand for numerous allied health occupations. Incentive programs are a common strategy to address health professional shortages. This report describes allied health incentive programs at the state level—their goals, policies, practices, and available data on their…
Medical assistants (MAs) are key members of the health care team and are assuming new and expanded roles amid health care delivery transformation. Some health care employers are turning to apprenticeships to meet their MA workforce needs. This report describes MA apprenticeships through literature review and analysis of interviews with key personnel involved with programs…
Systematically quantifying and tracking the evolution of the health workforce is a challenge, yet it is important for identifying emerging demands for different skills and competencies. Real Time Labor Market Information (RT-LMI), a source of data that is increasingly used to monitor workforce demand, extracts information from online job ads to track demand for general…
Entry‐level healthcare occupations are among the fastest growing occupations in the USA. Public perception is that the healthcare industry provides an opportunity for upward career mobility given the low education requirements to enter many healthcare occupations. The assumption that entry‐level healthcare occupations, such as nursing assistant, lead to higher‐skilled occupations, such as Registered Nurse, is…
Promoting racial and ethnic diversity in the health workforce can help meet the healthcare needs of underserved and racially diverse populations. Programs aimed at increasing representation in the workforce and increasing interest in health education for certain populations may be effective solutions. This article explores the changes in racial and ethnic diversity of the health…
