by Guest Author | Jul 10, 2019
The 2004 and 2008 Indiana pharmacist re-licensure survey was implemented through a collaborative partnership with the Indiana State Department of Health (ISDH) and the Indiana Professional Licensing Agency (IPLA). All pharmacists who renewed their license electronically during the 2004 and 2008 re- licensure periods were asked to complete an electronic survey. This report summarizes the responses to the survey items to provide a detailed description of the pharmacist workforce in the state of Indiana.
by Guest Author | Jul 10, 2019
The report presents key information and data collected on Indiana pharmacists from the biennial Pharmacist Licensure Survey administered by the Indiana Professional Licensing Agency (IPLA). The report identifies major trends and includes key data on the pharmacist workforce that may be used to promote meaningful policy discussion and inform evidence-based policy development. Understanding the status of Indiana’s healthcare workforce is critical to ensuring that Indiana residents have access to high quality care, to developing programs that will train practitioners to meet future needs, and to recruiting and retaining healthcare professionals in Indiana. The Data Report is broken into two major components. The first component provides an overview of the pharmacists in Indiana containing inclusion criteria, workforce distribution, and trends. The second component of the report includes key data tables.
by Guest Author | Jul 10, 2019
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.
by Guest Author | Jul 10, 2019
In order to fully leverage the pharmacist workforce in primary care delivery, which is focused more and more on cost-effective and team-based models, the pharmacist workforce must be clearly understood. Policymakers and health professionals must examine data that depicts the practice characteristics, demographics, capacity, and even the evolving role of pharmacists. Furthermore, these data must influence policy discussions that may lead to a more efficient health system. This report provides a ‘snapshot’ of the most recent data on Indiana’s pharmacist workforce, identifies emerging issues, and presents information pertinent to workforce planning and policy.
by Guest Author | Jul 10, 2019
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.
