Workforce

Health Care Workforce Supply vs. Demand
The physician and nurse shortage is plain to see, especially in certain parts of the country. Some analysts estimate that the nation will need 10 to 12 million new and replacement direct care workers in 10 years. This issue brief explores many options for growing the health care workforce, including those in the Affordable Care Act.

3000 Health Information Technology IT Graduates for Hire
Need help staffing your health information technology activities?   HHS’ Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology funded 82 ONC community colleges that are graduating the first batch of Health information technology professionals in April.  The graduates represent mid-career professionals with backgrounds in health care or information technology.  The training provides them a background in HIT integrating their educational and work experience to provide a skilled workforce that can facilitate the implementation of electronic health care system.

National Resident Matching Program
The number of students matched to primary care residencies increased for the second year in a row. View the press release For Second Year, More U.S. Medical School Seniors Match to Primary Care Residencies reports that the number of seniors matched to family medicine residencies increased 11% from 2010.

The Bienvenido Program
With the continued influx of Latino immigrants to the United States who have begun to access health and mental health services it is imperative that the health and mental health professional community address the many challenges encountered by Latino immigrants in need of these services. Further training of health and mental health professionals needs to be developed today and tapping into the strengths of Federally Qualified Health Centers brings a unique opportunity for cultural bridging. The Bienvenido Program has an innovative reliance on community networking and team building. Our approach is to identify the key concerns of the community within the Latino immigrant community, explore options with the Latino immigrant community, and implement with the Latino immigrant community. This has resulted in having the Latino immigrant more engaged with the broader society.

Movilizandonos por Nuestro Futuro: Strategic Development of a Mental Health Workforce for Latinos
The Strategic Development of a Mental Health Workforce for Latinos  was prepared by the US Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Minority Health and the National Resource Center for Hispanic Mental Health. The report provides consensus statements, numerous recommendations, and action items to serve as a blueprint for improving the behavioral health conditions of Latinos. Though Latinos constitute more than 15% of the overall population (not including the four million residents of Puerto Rico), they are visibly absent from all areas of the behavioral health profession including medicine, nursing, psychology, and social work.  

Pillars of Peer Support II
This report includes summaries of the presentations that were made at the summit. These include a review of the evidence base for Peer Support Services and a review of service implementation to date in the various states; panel discussion summaries; and an examination of the opportunities and challenges for implementing a state plan for Medicaid reimbursed Peer Support Services.

Collaborative Mental Health Care
Primary Care Clinician sometimes cite a lack of referral sources as a barrier to expanding their role in mental health care. After receiving the Collaborative Mental Health Care Pedialink course primary care clinicians will be able to identify needs that require emergency specialist care, determinate other clinical circumstances that require specialty mental health or substance abuse services and describe methods for making effective referrals to mental health or substance abuse specialists.