As health workforce shortages become more common in the United States, the use of temporary health care providers has increased. Federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) often experience staffing shortages and barriers to recruitment, but their use of temporary health care providers is not well understood. This article describes a study that analyzed data from 2013-2017…
There are many factors that contribute to the variability in quality of nursing education programs. While most research has focused on program variations that contribute to differences in National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) pass rates, less is known about how state level policies impact nursing program quality. This article describes a study that analyzed associations…
Many community health centers (CHCs) have begun adjusting their payment systems to alter their workforce configurations. However, little is known about how these workforce adjustments impact the quality of patient care. This abstract discusses the development of a simulation tool that would help CHCs use data to model different workforce configuration scenarios to maximize patient…
Hospitals have increasingly relied on nurse assistants to support nurses in the provision of patient care, yet knowledge about their contributions to the patient experience in US hospitals is limited. Although registered nurses are more impactful, nurse assistants are the more underdeployed staffing category. Given their lower labor costs, further employment of nurse assistants may…
As quality incentives are further integrated into payment systems, community health centers (CHCs) will need to optimize their workforce configuration to improve quality. Given the relative efficiency of advanced practice clinicians in producing quality, further hiring of these professionals is a cost‐effective investment for CHCs. This article explores optimal workforce configurations in the production of…
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 COVID-19 pandemic continues to have a profound impact on the health workforce in the United States. Current issues facing the health workforce include vaccine mandates, workforce shortages, and resiliency of the workforce in the face of burnout. At the same time, while some of the changes to state and federal laws regarding the delivery…
Postgraduate residency and fellowship programs have become more common in recent years as a means of helping nurse practitioners (NPs) transition to practice. More research is needed to understand the efficacy of these programs for NPs working in primary care settings. This article describes a study that analyzed 2018 survey data to examine possible associations…
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 Emergency Vaccinator Policies for COVID-19 is an interactive tool that displays temporary, emergency state policies authorizing specific professions to provide the COVID-19 vaccine. These policies expand on the types of personnel authorized to provide the COVID-19 vaccine beyond physicians, advanced practice nurses, and other traditional clinicians. It is important to note that this tool…
