Browsing by Subject "Primary Care Workforce"

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    Indiana Primary Care Clinician 2012 Workforce Report
    (2012-08) Lewis, Cynthia K.; Sheff, Zachary T.; Zollinger, Terrell W.; Allen, Deborah I.
    Primary care clinicians are a critical segment of the health care workforce in Indiana. The Institute of Medicine defined primary care as “the provision of integrated, accessible health care services by clinicians who are accountable for addressing a large majority of personal health care needs, developing a sustained partnership with patients, and practicing in the context of family and community.” 1 For this report, a physician was considered a “primary care physician” if their specialty was one of the following: family medicine, general internal medicine, general practice, internal medicine – pediatrics, and general pediatrics. In addition to these physician specialties, physician assistants and nurse practitioners who also provide primary care and are included in this report as part of the group considered to be primary care clinicians. The purpose of this report is to describe the current state of the primary care clinician workforce in Indiana, their demographic characteristics, practice setting, and geographical locations. The geographical locations are presented in different ways for the various stakeholders. The information presented in this report may be useful for projecting future needs given the current number of providers and proportion nearing retirement as well as the geographical areas where special attention may be needed to insure residents have adequate access to primary care clinicians in the future.
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    Indiana Primary Health Care: Description, Distribution, Challenges, and Strategic Recommendation to Empowered Decision Making
    (2012-12) Maxey, Hannah L.; Malcolm, Amber; Norwood, Connor W.; Sheff, Zachary T.; Walters, Staci Jo
    Over the past few years, and in light of the recent Supreme Court ruling on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) and the result of the 2012 Presidential election, access to health care services has been in the forefront of health care discussions. Driving these discussions are rising chronic disease rates, skyrocketing health care costs, and the ever increasing number of individuals falling into that black hole known as the “uninsured” -- all of which are major burdens on Indiana’s health system. Regardless of ones perspective on health reform, the links between primary health care access, health outcomes, and health care costs are undeniable [1-3]. People with access to primary health care services live longer, healthier lives, and the overall cost of their health care are less than those without access to these services. Ensuring a strong primary health care system across the State of Indiana is crucial to ensuring the health of Hoosiers and improving the efficiency of Indiana’s health system. However, before our current system can be strengthened, it must be understood. This begs the following questions: what is primary care?; why is it important?; who provides these services?; and where are they located? The development and implementation of health policies and primary health care programs that would secure Hoosier health relies on the ability of the State of Indiana to make informed decisions.
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    Issue Brief: Indiana’s Health Professions Workforce Shortages and Mal-distribution
    (2007-10) McKeag, Douglas B.; Zollinger, Terrell W.; Allen, Deborah I.; Przybyiski, Michael J.; Holloway, Angela M.; Kochhar, Komal; Muegge, Carolyn M.; Emery, Elizabeth J.
    Workforce shortages have been documented across a broad spectrum of health profession disciplines in Indiana. Currently, federal, state and local programs exist to recruit and retain health professionals in our state; however, these programs have had minimal impact on the underlying factors that contribute to the problem. Additional steps must be taken to expand the supply of health professionals to adequately meet the growing need for health care services among Indiana residents. While many health professional shortages exist, this brief will focus on the primary care physicians and nurses needed to provide medical homes for residents of our state.