Understanding Why Nurse Practitioner and Physician Assistant Productivity Varies Across Community Health Centers: A Comparative Qualitative Analysis

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…

Simulating the Impact of Workforce Configurations on Quality in Community Health Centers: A Feasibility Study to Develop a Simulation Tool

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…

Does Variation in State Nursing Education Regulations Matter?

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…

The Impact of Nurse and Support Staff and Relative Contributions to Patient Satisfaction Outcomes: A Production Function Approach to Determining Optimal Staffing

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…

Ensuring and Sustaining a Pandemic Workforce

In order for the current health workforce to meet the increasing demand brought about by the pandemic, health care delivery organizations, educators, and government leaders will need to work together to adapt regulations to expand workforce capacity. Strategies such as expanding scopes of practice, developing cross-state licensure programs, and increasing telehealth services are essential. This…

Does Expanded State Scope of Practice for Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants Increase Primary Care Utilization in Community Health Centers?

Broadening scope of practice (SOP) laws for nurse practitioners (NPs) has been suggested as a potential solution for increasing the composition productivity of NPs in in community health centers (CHCs). However, the effectiveness of broadening SOPs for NPs for this purpose remains unclear. This article describes a study that examined the data from over seven…

State Workforce Strategies in Response to COVID-19: Experiences From the Field

This webinar is a discussion with leaders of Health Workforce Research Centers (HWRCs) to get their perspectives on COVID-19 impacts on the health workforce. Webinar participants will: Gain insight into state responses to quickly build health workforce surge capacity Learn about COVID-19 workforce resources available on the Health Workforce Technical Assistance Center website Hear about…

Use of Temporary Providers in Primary Care in Federally Qualified Health Centers

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…

Modernizing Scope-of-Practice Regulations — Time to Prioritize Patients

Many healthcare organizations are rethinking provider roles and responsibilities to help their workforce best serve the needs of their patients. At the same time, regulations at the state and organizational levels restrict providers’ scope of practice. This article discusses potential adjustments to scope of practice regulations to allow healthcare organizations to provide the best possible…

Effect of the National Health Service Corps on Clinician Staffing and Patient Visits in Federally Qualified Health Centers

Federal programs such as the National Health Survey Corps (NHSC) are important for ensuring an adequate supply of primary care professionals in underserved areas. However, we know little about how much NHSC clinicians expand patient capacity at the organizations in which they serve. This article describes a study that examined longitudinal administrative data at more…

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