When it comes to policy at the Bowen Center, we are in the business of research. We steward health professions data on behalf of the state, and we use these data to ultimately inform policy. 

How can Data inform Health Policy?

How can data inform policy? Health workforce data can be a powerful tool for informing many initiatives. State agencies and the legislature can use these data to answer targeted questions, such as: “Where are our primary care shortages located in Indiana?” or “How many Medicaid providers do we have in our county?” We are committed to ensuring health workforce data gets into the hands of the people that need it, and ensuring it is presented in ways that are accessible and meaningful to many audiences. 

 It is also important to note that health policy can affect the collection of data as well. Indiana Code 25-1-2-10 was revised in 2018 to require certain health professionals to provide selected information related to their training and practice at the time of license renewal. This policy enables Indiana to have more robust information on our health workforce.  

At the Bowen Center we believe that Data and Policy are intrinsically linked because of their profound effect on one another. 

Workforce Shortages

Recruitment Incentives

Policy and Programming

Profession-specific Initiatives

Health Workforce Evaluations

What is the Bowen Center’s role in policy?

The Bowen Center does not advocate in support or opposition of any policy.  

We see our role as  

1) providing our stakeholders with high-quality objective information to make informed decisions and  

2) facilitating alignment of intersecting initiatives through convening and coordinating policy or programmatic discussions. We help stakeholders and legislators obtain an accurate representation of current health workforce trends throughout the nation, and how policies might affect Indiana.   

Our role ends once we present the facts to officials, we do not try to persuade any decisions. 

Looking for our Health Policy resources?

All of our resources can be found in the Bowen Library! 

Policy resources are all marked with the topic area of “policy.” Selected the topic area “policy” from the drop-down menu. You can further narrow your search by selecting profession(s), additional topic areas, and year published. You can also search by keyword in the search bar! 

If you still can’t find what you’re looking for, we’d love to help. Whether that includes pointing you to existing resources, answering questions, or setting up a special project that fulfills your needs. Fill out our contact form to get in touch. 

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Serving up Legislative Updates Like it’s Our Job

(because it is)

Check out the Bowen Bi-weekly Bill Brief (B4) Try saying that 5 times fast.

In the Bowen Bi-weekly Bill Brief (otherwise known as the B4), 
we track health and health workforce legislation as it makes its way to becoming a law. 

We do this each legislative session to make it easy for you to stay up-to-date on health-related legislation in Indiana. 

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