Community health centers (CHCs) are the cornerstone of primary care for 29 million people, most of whom are low-income, underserved, and live in rural populations. Until 2016, CHCs reported community health workers (CHWs) as part of their overall enabling services workforce, making it difficult to report CHW use in the annual Uniform Data System (UDS)….
Federal programs such as the National Health Survey Corps (NHSC) are important for providing staffing to community health centers (CHCs). However, the financial impact of NHSC staff on CHCs remains unclear. This article describes a study that analyzed 2013-2017 data from the Uniform Data System and the NHSC administrative database to compare the financial impact…
As the COVID-19 pandemic surged throughout the United States, increased demand for health workers led to the implementation of health workforce data and tools to aid planning and response at local, state, and national levels. This article describes the development of 2 estimator tools—the State Hospital Workforce Deficit Estimator and the Contract Tracing Workforce Estimator—designed…
Previous studies of community health centers (CHCs) have found that clinicians supported by the National Health Service Corps (NHSC) provide a similar number of primary care visits per full-time clinician as non-NHSC clinicians, as well as supply additional behavioral health care visits per clinician than non-NHSC clinicians. This article examines the contributions of NHSC and…
Clerical burdens have impacted primary care providers that are already facing changes to the healthcare landscape and workforce shortages. These pressures have negative implications for patient care and result in burnout and job dissatisfaction. Medical scribes have emerged as a solution to reduce clerical tasks and negative perceptions of patient/provider interactions associated with the use…
Studies have shown that sufficient nurse staffing is essential for the delivery of quality care and safe working conditions that are associated with better patient outcomes. As of 2020, 14 states had legislation to increase nurse staffing in hospitals. The legislation includes 3 main approaches: 1.) mandating minimum nurse staffing ratios in hospitals; 2.) mandating a…
A diverse oral health workforce is important for providing care to patients of different backgrounds and improving health equity overall. Unfortunately, Blacks and Hispanics are underrepresented in dental education programs and in the larger oral health workforce. This article describes a study that analyzed the demographic data of dental programs and recent graduates and conducted…
Black, Hispanic, and American Indian and Alaskan Native populations in the US experience great disparities in both oral health status and access to dental services. Increased diversity in the oral health workforce has been shown to decrease access barriers and oral health disparities and increase health care quality and patient satisfaction, specifically for minority populations….
Health disparities have worsened over the last 20 years in the United States, and research has exposed the role of health care systems in contributing to these disparities. Based on race/ethnicity, sex, sexual identity, socioeconomic status, and geography, communities face disproportionately higher disparities in access, diagnosis, and treatment, ultimately resulting in adverse health outcomes. This…
The Teaching Health Center (THC) program was established in the Affordable Care Act to support new and expanded community-based primary care residency programs. THC programs are predominantly family-medicine programs located in community health centers, rural health clinics, and tribal health centers. This article evaluates the impact of new THC residency programs on health center staffing,…
