Accurate enumeration of behavioral health workforce supply and characteristics is important for workforce planning. Although numerous data sources exist for the behavioral health workforce, all have substantial data limitations and comparability across data sources is low. A behavioral health workforce Minimum Data Set (MDS) was developed in 2016 to improve data quality. This qualitative report…
Subspecialists of psychiatrists that treat vulnerable populations are in short supply across the country. Discrepancies in supply between rural and urban areas are likely, but little is known about how these subspecialties are geographically distributed. This report examined county-level data of different subspecialties of psychiatrists to determine how the subspecialties were distributed and whether there…
Minimum data sets (MDS) can be effective for the standardized collection of granular workforce data that allows policymakers to confront important health access issues. In 2016, the Behavioral Health Workforce Research center developed and refined a comprehensive MDS for the entire behavioral health workforce. This report describes a study that conducted interviews and focus groups…
After the passage of the Affordable Care Act and the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act, behavioral health coverage has expanded to cover more US citizens. However, access to behavioral health services remains an issue, owing in part to maldistribution of the workforce. The psychiatric workforce, in particular, is in the middle of a…
Many individuals suffer from both mental health and substance use disorders, but few providers are trained to provide both mental health and substance use treatment. Treatment for individuals who suffer from both mental health and substance use conditions is critical to helping reduce the burden on other systems such as emergency rooms, social services, and…
A large percentage of patients experiencing behavioral health issues seek help in primary care settings. Most are discharged without receiving behavioral health treatments. Furthermore, roughly half of all care for common psychiatric disorders is provided in primary care settings, and patients are often more open to discussing mental health concerns with their primary care physicians….
Currently, around 47.6 million Americans are living with a mental illness and 20.3 million adults are living with a substance use disorder (SUD). In 2016, only 43% (20.6 million) of adults living with any mental illness received mental health (MH) care, and only 3.7 million adults (18.2%) living with an SUD received any treatment. Peer…
Mental Health Counselors (MHCs) are a large and rapidly growing segment of the mental health workforce. However, little is known about this workforce other than its education and training requirements. This report describes a study that utilized an online survey to examine the characteristics of the current MHC workforce for the purposes of developing a…
Medication-assisted treatment (MAT) has been shown to be effective for treating opioid use disorders (OUDs), but implementation is lagging, particularly in rural areas. Telehealth may be an effective solution for helping to make MAT more accessible for patients suffering from OUDs in geographically remote areas. This report described a study that utilized geospatial analysis and…
The psychiatric workforce shortage remains a serious issue in the field of behavioral health. In 2018, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) designated 5,124 mental health professional shortage areas in the United States. Demand for the psychiatry workforce is projected to exceed the supply by 16,450 workers by 2030. Studies continue to show that…
