Persistent nursing shortages continue in the United States, even as many licensed nurses are not employed in nursing roles. The enhanced Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC 2.0) is a mutual licensure recognition agreement, and is used as a strategy to increase workforce supply and flexibility. This article examines whether the NLC 2.0 has helped increase the…
In rural areas, providers and Medicaid enrollees may face additional barriers in providing or accessing telehealth, even within states that have adopted supportive telehealth policies. This is particularly the case during a public health emergency such as COVID-19. This article offers one of the earliest estimates of telehealth provision to pregnant Medicaid enrollees during COVID-19,…
Medicaid faces significant policy and funding changes that could affect access to primary care, raising questions about the stability of the clinician workforce serving Medicaid enrollees. However, fluctuations in Medicaid participation may reflect changes in patient enrollment rather than frequent decisions by clinicians to enter or leave the program. Understanding how primary care clinicians maintain…
Geographic disparities in healthcare access remain a persistent challenge in Medicaid, prompting growing interest in area-level measures that can help identify communities with the greatest unmet needs. Multidimensional socioeconomic indexes, such as the Social Vulnerability Index (SVI), may provide a more comprehensive way to target healthcare resources than traditional income-based measures alone. Understanding how these…
The Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP) will invest $50 billion to strengthen healthcare access and workforce capacity in rural communities across the United States. As states develop proposals to access these funds, they need reliable data to understand the providers currently serving rural Medicaid populations and identify areas with workforce shortages. The US Medicaid Primary…
This webinar features 2 presentations examining the role of travel nurses. Eric Luo discusses findings from a study linking higher levels of travel and overtime nurse hours to increased rates of pressure ulcers. LaTonya Trotter shares insights from interviews with travel nurses, highlighting how short-term contract work is reshaping nursing by redefining autonomy, expertise, and…
Community Health Workers (CHWs) are increasingly recognized as essential healthcare providers in the United States. Valued for their deep understanding of the communities they serve, CHWs play a crucial role in building high-impact partnerships with low-income, underserved, and racial and ethnic minority populations. Despite the recognized value of CHWs in improving health outcomes, the integration…
Advanced practice clinicians (APCs)—nurse practitioners and physician assistants—that are in the 90th percentile of community health centers (CHCs) provide about 1,840 adjusted-visits per year; whereas APCs in the 10th percentile CHCs provide about 978 adjusted-visits per year. Several important conditions were found among high productivity CHCs, including scheduling APCs and physicians for the same number…
The Health Workforce Deficit Estimator is an online tool to help state and federal planners consider different strategic approaches to ensure sufficient heath workforce for COVID-19. Built off the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation demand model, the tool currently shows deficits in supply for respiratory therapists, intensivists, hospitalists, and critical care nurses in certain…
The Mullan Institute estimates that between now and March 20, 2021, 7% of counties in the USwill experience hospital workforce staffing strains due to COVID-19 hospitalizations. Using new county-level projections of COVID-19 hospitalizations and ICU occupancy provided, it is estimated that 209 counties will need to implement crisis workforce strategies. This involves tiered staffing strategies…
