The Oral Health Workforce Research Center conducted a comparative analysis of Medicaid dental claims over a 2-year period in New York and Oklahoma. Oklahoma Medicaid provides only a limited dental benefit for adult enrollees 21 years of age and older, including emergency exams and extractions of diseased teeth. In contrast, adult Medicaid beneficiaries in New…
Concerns about limited access to oral health services for underserved populations are prompting providers to adopt innovative service delivery models to meet the needs of those with access barriers. The use of teledentistry as a means to improve access to oral health services in areas with inadequate availability of general and specialty dental care is…
There is greater general recognition of the linkages between physical disease and oral pathology. This has resulted in calls for medical professionals to incorporate oral health assessment, counseling, and early intervention into their routine clinical activities. However, actualization of the integration of oral health services in medical practice is difficult, due to the siloed structure…
Demand for dental residency and dental student externship opportunities has grown in recent years, driven by the economy for dental employment and the desire of students for increased market competitiveness. In addition to specialty residencies, some states now also require that general dentists complete a year of advanced education in general dentistry before licensure. The…
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…
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)….
The provision of care for rural and geographically isolated, vulnerable populations presents substantial challenges for the behavioral health workforce related to its supply and retention of clinicians. This issue is a barrier to providing accessible services to those most in need. This policy brief assesses behavioral health workforce supply and need, barriers to recruiting and…
Balancing the disequilibrium between the demand for mental health and substance use disorder services and the supply of qualified behavioral health professionals compels an examination of the billing and reimbursement practices and payer policies impacting behavioral health service access. One strategy to enhance workforce capacity is to ensure that behavioral health professionals can receive reimbursement…
The Center for Health Workforce Studies (CHWS) developed a numerical scope of practice index for the dental hygiene profession called the Dental Hygiene Professional Practice Index (DHPPI) under a contract with the the National Center for Health Workforce Analysis at the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). Because the variables in the original DHPPI, which…
The Institute of Medicine has called for an increase in the diversity of the registered nurse (RN) workforce as well as an increase in the percentage of registered nurses who have a baccalaureate degree. A prior study has indicated that 33% of registered nurses who transitioned from licensed practical nurses (LPNs) between 2001 and 2013…
