The Drug Addiction Treatment Act (DATA) of 2000 created a pathway for clinicians to obtain waivers (“DATA waivers”) to treat patients with opioid use disorder (OUD) outside of an opioid treatment program, provided the clinicians met certification and training requirements. Prior research mainly relies on DATA-waiver status or prescription data alone to estimate the workforce,…
Despite improvements in oral health care for children in recent years, poor pediatric oral health continues to be a serious health issue in the United States. To investigate this, a web-based survey was conducted with 1,745 parents/legal guardians regarding their children’s access to oral health services. This article identifies barriers to needed dental care for…
Aging adults with serious mental issues (SMI), including bipolar disease, depression, and schizophrenia, often have multiple chronic conditions and high rates of comorbidities. One of the major issues for older adults with SMI is the widespread shortage of behavioral health specialists (BHSs) which has created a lack of mental health services in the US. This…
The State Health Workforce Data Collection Inventory describes findings from a survey about data collection on health workforce supply (eg, demographic, education, and practice characteristics of health professionals), demand (eg, vacancies and employer recruitment and retention difficulties), and the education pipeline (eg, graduation rates and trainee/graduate characteristics). The data collection survey is ongoing and the…
Medical assistants (MAs) are among the fastest-growing occupations in the US. However, there are high turnover rates and providers have difficulty filling MA positions. Employers are increasingly using apprenticeship to meet emerging workforce needs. This article discusses a qualitative study that examined perspectives of 14 employers using registered MA apprenticeships in 8 states. Findings included…
To help policymakers plan for allied health workforce changes, they need easily accessible data. The Center for Health Workforce Studies at the University of Washington has multiple dashboards that allows users to explore publicly available data on current allied health workforce trends. This dashboard allows users to compare work and residence locations for sixteen different…
Millions health care workers lost their jobs during the first peak of the pandemic when clinics closed temporarily and hospitals postponed surgeries to prevent the spread of the COVID-19. Although most of those jobs returned by the fall of 2020 and the job market continued to improve, health care employment is still lower than pre-pandemic…
The National EMS Scope of Practice Model is a blueprint for states to develop scopes of practice for emergency medical services (EMS) practitioners. It is intended to reduce inconsistencies between states and provide a basis from which national standards of care and performance for each level of EMS practitioner can be developed. Such standards can…
The COVID-19 pandemic has intensified long-standing workforce issues and further weakened the financial position of many rural health facilities as they have attempted to mobilize their workforce while struggling to absorb the added costs of patient care and invest in the additional resources needed for pandemic response. The federal government has addressed some of these…
Studies estimate that approximately one-third of all opioid prescriptions (Rxs) from dentists are associated with nonsurgical dental procedures, which suggests unwarranted opioid use. This article discusses a study of adult Medicaid beneficiaries using administrative claims data from New York (NY) and Oregon (OR) (2014-2016) to examine opioid Rxs associated with nonsurgical dental visits.
