Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)
For at least a decade, the United States has experienced worsening workforce shortages in the health professions. Analysts now are projecting a nationwide shortage of almost 100,000 physicians, as many as one million nurses, and 250,000 public health professionals by 2020.
Due to the high cost of health insurance and increasingly pervasive staffing shortfalls in the health professions, at least 50 million Americans lack access to the most basic care. A third are children.
http://bhpr.hrsa.gov/healthworkforce/
And…
The Complexities of National Health Care Workforce Planning
Authored by a team from Deloitte Center for Health Solutions
Bipartisan Policy Center, October 18, 2011
Background
Establishing future workforce requirements is an inherently imprecise activity. Health care is a complex environment with many uncertainties affecting workforce supply and demand. Characterized by multiple stakeholders at the national, state and local levels and within professional, educational and other jurisdictions, the interdependencies between the groups that make up the health care sector are complicated. Moreover, efficient and effective workforce planning and deployment is inextricably linked to changes in demand for services, clinical technologies that facilitate diagnosis and treatment, payments that influence provider behaviors, workforce policies that frame licensing and scope of practice, as well as the overall structure of the system especially as it is impacted by the recently-passed Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010.
Section Five of the Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care Act of 2010 emphasizes the need for strategies to increase workforce supply and capabilities, develop workforce diversity, and strengthen professional areas where supply is weak. These strategies are necessary to plan for a supply of professionals that is able to meet the changing demands of the health care system.
Looking Ahead: Workforce Innovations in the U.S.
National Health Workforce Commission: A 15-member committee (as yet unfunded) appointed by the General Accountability Office, the National Health Care Workforce Commission is required to review health care workforce supply and demand and make recommendations regarding national priorities and policy. Other areas of focus will involve review of the implementation of state health workforce development grants program and workforce development actions including career pathways, policies and practices regarding recruitment, retention and training of the health care workforce.
Findings
The U.S. health care industry is capital intense, highly regulated and labor intensive. These three factors complicate efforts to radically and/or quickly change its workforce composition. Health care consumes 17 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP), and the U.S. consistently spends more on health care per capita than other developed countries. As widely noted, health care costs exceed $9,000 per capita and will increase at six percent annually for the next decade. Innovative approaches to educating and training the health care workforce are imperative to effectively manage increased demand for services while reducing costs and improving quality. Traditional supply-demand analyses for the health care industry workforce fall short in addressing both objectives. Fragmented and inconsistent data collection, variance in methodological assumptions and rigor, mistrust between professional groups and wide differences in regulatory and educational context contribute to an incomplete understanding of workforce supply and demand.
To ensure an adequate, effective workforce in the U.S. health care system, a fresh approach is critical. The National Health Workforce Commission as well as the National Center for Health Workforce Analysis are integral to the transformation of the US health care system. These bodies must lead in the creation of a solid methodological foundation upon which workforce shortages, demand and regulatory oversight must be constructed.
http://www.bipartisanpolicy.org/system/assets/drupal/Workforce%20Study.pdf
Comment:
By Don McCanne, MD
Health care consumes 17 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product, yet our health care workforce is in a terrible state of disarray. The fragmentation of our health care system makes it virtually impossible for the private sector to plan and coordinate the development of our health care workforce. This is exactly the type of need that requires government action and oversight. Yet the 15 member National Health Workforce Commission remains unfunded.
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