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…
Medical students played an essential role in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, the pandemic disproportionately impacted the most vulnerable populations and exacerbated inequality. Medical students should be trained to respond to public health emergencies in ways that promote health equity, but what this training should entail has yet to be…
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…
Due to the ongoing effects of the pandemic, the American Rescue Plan and the CARES act have provided major increases to healthcare funding. However, planning and accountability are needed to ensure that this new funding is spent responsibly and equitably to address the nations most pressing health needs. This article provides recommendations for organizations to…
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…
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…
Virtually all fields of the health workforce have been greatly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Different states and health organizations responded to these challenges using a variety of different strategies and adjustments. The pandemic has also highlighted the need for a strong health workforce. This article summarizes the other articles in the research supplement and…
In times of heightened population health needs, the health workforce must respond quickly and efficiently, especially at the state level. The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the needs for greater flexibility in scope of practice and interstate mobility areas of health workforce regulation. The lack of a coordinated national response early in the pandemic left the onus…
Contract tracing is an essential tool in the effort to control COVID-19, particularly when spikes in cases occur. By deploying the workforce effectively to trace infections, localities can determine appropriate mitigation policies. This tool allows users to estimatebased on the number of new cases, the size of the local population, and other factorshow many contact…
