by Guest Author | Feb 26, 2026 | Data, Reports
The Bowen Center for Health Workforce Research and Policy has released its analysis of Indiana’s physician assistant workforce, offering insights into who these professionals are and where they practice.
The report paints a picture of a young, predominately female workforce, with most PAs holding advanced degrees and planning to continue in their current roles. These professionals work across diverse healthcare settings, from emergency departments to specialty clinics, and play a vital role in patient care throughout the state.
However, the data also reveal a challenge: geographic maldistribution. While urban communities tend to benefit from strong PA presence, some rural areas struggle with limited access or no PAs at all. This unevenness could affect healthcare access for Indiana residents.
The findings provide valuable context for understanding the strengths and gaps in the Indiana PA workforce. Read the full report below.
by Guest Author | Feb 26, 2026 | Data, Reports
Indiana’s physician assistant (PA) workforce reflects a young, growing profession with more than 2,400 actively practicing PAs serving communities across the state. These professionals work primarily in hospitals and specialty clinics, with surgical subspecialties, emergency medicine, and family practice as the most common areas of focus. The workforce skews younger and predominately female, with most PAs having completed their education within Indiana.
Telehealth has emerged as an important service delivery method, with nearly half of PAs now offering remote care options. While PAs serve diverse patient populations, geographic distribution remains uneven. Urban counties benefit from robust PA presence, while many rural areas face significant gaps in coverage. More than 20 counties report no practicing PAs at all.
See the full PA workforce snapshot at the end of this post. Instructions for using it are below.
How to Use This Workforce Data Snapshot
This new workforce snapshot draws on the 2024 PA Data Report and provides an overview of PAs in Indiana based on data collected during the 2024 license renewal period.
Key Information Includes
- Total actively practicing professionals: the number of individuals licensed and practicing in Indiana
- Specialties: the areas of focus these professionals reported
- Primary practice setting: the environments in which these professionals work
- Services provided: the most common services these professionals offer to patients
- Populations served: the groups these professionals report working with most frequently
- Where professionals obtained their education: the geographic location where these professionals completed their qualifying degrees or training
These data can be used to understand the composition, distribution, and characteristics of Indiana’s PA workforce. They can inform workforce planning, policy decisions, and strategies to address service gaps across the state.
The workforce snapshot also includes a map illustrating the geographic distribution of all PAs across Indiana’s 92 counties, according to data collected during the 2024 license renewal cycle.
How to Read the Map
Counties are color-coded based on the ratio of the total population per one professional full-time equivalent (FTE). This measure indicates how many people each professional serves in a given county.
- Darker blue counties have fewer people per PA, indicating greater workforce availability.
- Lighter blue counties have more people per PA, indicating lower workforce availability.
- Gray counties have zero PAs.
View the full PA workforce snapshot below.
by Guest Author | Feb 11, 2026 | Data
The Bowen Center for Health Workforce Research and Policy has released its latest workforce snapshots covering Indiana’s behavioral health and human services (BHHS) workforce. The workforce is made up of 10,460 actively practicing professions as of 2024 license renewal data. Of those, 9,677 licensed professionals (excluding associates) and 783 are associate-level practitioners.
Snapshots by Profession and Number of Professionals
How to Use These BHHS Workforce Data Snapshots
These new snapshots provide an overview of BHHS professions in Indiana based on data collected during the 2024 license renewal period. Each BHHS profession has its own snapshot. Additionally, there are snapshots for BHHS professionals excluding associate-level licenses and BHHS associates only. All snapshots include the same highlighted information but specific to the group covered.
Key Information Includes
- Total actively practicing professionals: the number of individuals licensed and practicing in Indiana
- Specialties: the areas of focus these professionals reported
- Primary practice setting: the environments in which these professionals work
- Services provided: the most common services these professionals offer
- Populations served: the groups these professionals report working with most frequently
- Where professionals obtained their education: the geographic location where these professionals completed their qualifying degrees or training
These data can be used to understand the composition, distribution, and characteristics of Indiana’s BHHS workforce. They can inform workforce planning, policy decisions, and strategies to address service gaps across the state.
Check out the full snapshot for all BHHS professionals, excluding associates, below.
How to Read the Geographic Distribution Map
In addition to the workforce snapshots, the Bowen Center produced a map illustrating the geographic distribution of all BHHS professionals across all of Indiana’s 92 counties, according to data collected during the 2024 license renewal cycle.
Counties are color-coded based on the ratio of population to full-time equivalent (FTE) professionals. This measure indicates how many people each professional serves in a given county.
- Darker green counties have fewer people per BHHS professional, indicating greater workforce availability.
- Lighter green counties have more people per BHHS professional, indicating lower workforce availability.
- Gray counties have zero BHHS professionals.
The geographic distribution map of all BHHS professionals in Indiana can be found here.
This visualization helps identify geographic areas with potential workforce gaps and can be used to inform targeted recruitment, retention, and policy strategies to improve access to services across the state.
by Guest Author | Jan 6, 2026 | Data
Indiana’s behavioral health and human services (BHHS) workforce plays a vital role in supporting the wellbeing of communities across the state. The 2024 BHHS Workforce Data Report provides a look at who makes up this workforce, where they practice, and the services they deliver.
This year’s findings highlight that more than 10,460 professionals actively practice in Indiana, with clinical social workers representing the largest share. The report reveals a workforce that is predominately female, largely trained at the master’s level, and significantly engaged in telehealth.
The data also offers insight into supervision, populations served, and geographic distribution, identifying areas of strong coverage and continued need.
Explore the full report below.
by Guest Author | Jul 16, 2025 | Data, News, Policy
The Bowen Center for Health Workforce Research and Policy is pleased to announce the promotion of Dr. Brittany Daulton to Associate Director. Dr. Daulton has served as a Faculty Fellow at the Bowen Center since 2023, where she has contributed significantly to research and policy initiatives aimed at strengthening Indiana’s health workforce.
In her new role, Dr. Daulton will help lead the Bowen Center’s strategic direction, support stakeholder engagement, and advance data-driven policy development. Her background in evaluation science, research methodology, and translation position her well to help guide the Bowen Center’s mission of informing policy and aligning initiatives to improve health outcomes across Indiana.
This promotion reflects Dr. Daulton’s dedication to interdisciplinary collaboration, evidence-based research, and public service. The Bowen Center looks forward to her continued leadership in addressing the complex challenges facing Indiana’s health workforce.
Follow the links below to learn more about Dr. Daulton.
LinkedIn
IU Faculty Page
by Guest Author | Jun 18, 2025 | Data
The Bowen Center for Health Workforce Research and Policy’s latest Indiana oral health data report offers an overview of the state’s dentists and dental hygienists. It uses licensure data and survey responses to examine workforce demographics, education, practice settings, and geographic distribution. It also explores emerging trends in service delivery and access to care across Indiana.
The full findings are in the report below and may have implications for health care planning, policy development, and community health initiatives.
