by Guest Author | Jul 16, 2025 | Policy
At the Bowen Center, we’re proud to collaborate with partners across the state who are driving meaningful change in health workforce development. Our long-standing partnership with the Indiana Department of Health includes providing administrative support to the new Health Workforce Council, an initiative focused on building a more coordinated and responsive health workforce strategy for Indiana.
In this guest blog, Brooke Mullen, Executive Director of the Health Workforce Council, shares how this effort is shaping the future of the health workforce in our state.
In 2024, Indiana launched the Health Workforce Council as a partnership between the Indiana Department of Health (IDOH) and the Family & Social Services Administration (FSSA). The council is the result of a recommendation from then-Gov. Eric J. Holcomb’s Public Health Commission.
The council, chaired by State Health Commissioner Lindsay Weaver, MD, FACEP, brings together state government representatives and other stakeholders who are focused on practical and innovative solutions to grow the health workforce capacity of our state.
I have the privilege of serving as executive director for the council, joining IDOH in November 2023 for this role. I have worked in state government for 16 years, previously with the Department of Workforce Development (DWD) and the Family and Social Services Administration (FSSA).
The council’s mission is to create and lead an integrated and intentional framework for strengthening the health workforce within our state. To do this, the council works to coordinate initiatives and leverage existing programs throughout the state, seeks to expand recruitment, training, placement, and retention of health workforce into areas of need, and to identify and collaborate on incentive programs and strategies to target those areas of need.
In establishing the council, our approach was to bring together a group of individuals who could represent broad areas of subject matter expertise and experience themselves but also have a larger network to include in some of these important conversations. The council is comprised of members of the executive and legislative branches of state government, but primarily represents clinicians, educators, and employers throughout our state. Our intention is to get a “boots on the ground” perspective of experiences.
During the spring of 2024, IDOH, in conjunction with the Bowen Center for Health Workforce Policy and Research, hosted a day-long Health Workforce Summit and conducted a Health Workforce Survey with stakeholders representing more than 45 organizations, including healthcare employers, educators, professional associations, and state government. Through these initiatives, priority topics were identified and include behavioral and mental health, obstetrics, and family medicine and pediatrics.
The council meets on a quarterly basis, and meetings are open to the public. For more information, check out our website at https://www.in.gov/health/directory/office-of-the-commissioner/health-workforce-council/.
by Guest Author | May 14, 2025 | News, Policy
The Bowen Center for Health Workforce Research and Policy is delighted to announce that our organization has received a significant grant to develop national recommendations for strengthening the behavioral health and substance use workforce.
The $592,338 award from the Foundation for Opioid Response Efforts (FORE) will fund a comprehensive 50-state policy review and stakeholder engagement process aimed at creating a first-of-its-kind national framework for behavioral health paraprofessional roles.
Hannah Maxey, center, pictured at a Playbook Project stakeholder convening. | Photo by Daiyawn Smith/Dai in Dai Out Productions
“This framework aims to address the critical gap in service access for individuals suffering from opioid use disorder by recommending best practices for training, credentialing and reimbursement based on lessons learned from states with formalized roles,” said Bowen Center Director Hannah L. Maxey, PhD, MPH, RDH.
The grant was one of only four awarded through FORE’s Innovation Challenge Program, which supports new solutions to difficult issues related to the opioid and overdose crisis.
This initiative builds upon the Bowen Center’s Playbook for Enhancing Indiana’s Mental and Behavioral Health Workforce, published in 2024 with support from Lilly Endowment Inc., keeping the ball rolling on mental and behavioral health workforce research.
The Bowen Center will release more details about this exciting project in the coming weeks and months, so stay tuned!
For more information, visit: https://medicine.iu.edu/news/2025/05/bowen-center-fore-grant-lilly-endowment
For more information about our past work on this topic, check out the Playbook project below or go to the project homepage. You can also see our full portfolio of past large-scale projects on our dedicated Portfolio page here.
by Guest Author | Mar 27, 2025 | Data
The Bowen Center for Health Workforce Research and Policy has released its latest data snapshots detailing Indiana’s physician workforce characteristics as of the 2023 license renewal process.
The three new reports cover:
- All Actively Practicing Physicians – With 18,586 physicians statewide, the data reveals that 61.3% of physicians reported practicing in specialties outside primary care, while 34.5% reported a focus on primary care and 4.2% on psychiatry. 61.8% of physicians reported providing telemedicine services.
- Primary Care Physicians – Indiana has 6,420 primary care physicians, with Family/General Medicine (47.1%) and Internal Medicine (31%) representing the largest specialties, as self-reported by Indiana primary care physicians. Over 71% reported providing telemedicine services, and nearly 23% reported offering addiction services.
- Psychiatrists – The state has 782 actively practicing psychiatrists, with 90.5% reporting a specialty of general psychiatry and 9.5% in child psychiatry. Notably, 31 counties report no psychiatrist FTEs, highlighting significant disparities in mental healthcare access across Indiana.
Each snapshot includes a detailed map of geographic distribution, showing both the number of each type of physician in each county, the per capita figures, and a histogram showing country distribution. Marion, Lake, Allen, and Hamilton counties showing the highest concentration of physicians, while rural counties like Benton and Carroll face major shortages.
Does Indiana physician health workforce data pique your interest? Take a deep dive into Indiana’s 2023 Physician Workforce Data Report, complete with interactive data and charts galore at this link.
Check out each of the snapshots directly below or download the documents using the links in the text above.
All Indiana Physicians Workforce Snapshot
Primary Care Physician Workforce Snapshot
Psychiatrist Workforce Snapshot:
by Guest Author | Mar 13, 2025 | News, Policy, Reports
The Bowen Center’s newly released 2024 Annual Report showcases a year of significant achievements in health workforce research and policy. Highlights include completing the Playbook for Enhancing Indiana’s Mental and Behavioral Health Workforce, assessing Indiana’s EMS workforce, and finalizing a three-year direct care workforce project.
Under Dr. Hannah Maxey’s leadership, the Center has enhanced its data collection partnerships with state agencies while expanding its communication strategy to ensure research reaches decision-makers who need it most.
With a combination of funding from public and private sources, the Center produced 63 publications, delivered 22 presentations, and saw significant increases in website and social media engagement in 2024, solidifying its role as Indiana’s premier resource for health workforce planning.
The report also features testimonials from partners including Indiana Lt. Governor Suzanne Crouch and Indiana Professional Licensing Agency Executive Director Lindsay Hyer, who emphasize the Center’s crucial role in transforming workforce data into evidence-based solutions for healthcare access challenges across the state.
Download the full report here or read it in full below:
by Guest Author | Mar 13, 2025 | Policy
Indiana faces dental workforce shortages, with 68% of its counties designated as Dental Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs). This shortage impacts access to essential oral health services for many residents. The Bowen Center for Health Workforce reviewed the current state of dental health professionals in Indiana, comparing it with neighboring states, and examines the potential of the Dentist and Dental Hygienist Compact to address these workforce shortages. Discover how interstate compacts could enhance mobility and reduce regulatory barriers for dental professionals.
Click here to read the full report and learn more about the dental health workforce in Indiana.
Read the full brief below or download it here.
