2018 Oral Health Data Report

Determining the supply and distribution of Indiana’s oral health workforce is crucial to understanding the capacity available to meet oral healthcare needs of Indiana citizens. Such data can also be used to inform initiatives aimed at increasing diversity, cultural competency, quality of care, and dental care access in underserved communities . Data presented in this report provide a snapshot of key demographic and practice characteristics for the oral health workforce in Indiana. The 2018 Indiana Oral Health Licensure Survey Data Report presents key information derived from data collected from the dentist and dental hygienist re-licensure survey administered by the Indiana Professional Licensing Agency (IPLA) during the license renewal period. In 2018, 4,001 dentists and 4,996 dental hygienists renewed their professional licenses. Of those who renewed their license, 2,697 dentists (67.4%) and 3,521 dental hygienists (70.4%) reported actively practicing and had a valid Indiana license address and were included in this report. Marion County encompasses the largest reported oral health workforce full-time equivalents (FTEs): 376.7 FTE for dentists and 235.2 FTE for dental hygienists. Based on the survey samples, there are significantly fewer oral health professionals available to serve Indiana citizens in rural, less populous counties such as LaGrange, Crawford and Jennings Counties. Additionally, a relatively low proportion of dentists reported offering services to low-income persons (i.e. accepting Medicaid). This report details, 2018 Indiana Oral Health Licensure Survey Data Report, presents a snapshot of data on the dentist and dental hygienist professions to provide stakeholders with information needed to improve the quality and accessibility of oral health care for Indiana residents through policymaking, workforce development, and resource allocation. Additional analyses and reports may be made available upon submission of a technical assistance request at https://family.medicine.iu.edu/hws.

Mental Health and Addiction Services Loan Repayment Assistance

The State of Indiana recognizes the importance of strengthening and retaining the behavioral health workforce in order to 1) tackle the opioid epidemic and 2) expand the workforce to areas in greatest need of mental health care. Financial incentives focused on workforce recruitment and/or retention are frequently used as a strategy to increase workforce capacity, reduce turnover, and reduce burnout. Student loan repayment assistance programs are one such strategy. These programs generally offer professionals relief from the administrative and economic stress of repaying student debt in exchange for practicing in underserved areas or with underserved populations for a specified time period.

In 2014, the Indiana Family and Social Services Division of Mental Health and Addiction (DMHA) implemented a Mental Health and Addiction Services Loan Repayment Assistance Program (LRAP) targeting behavioral health professionals. The Bowen Center for Health Workforce Research and Policy (Bowen Center) was contracted by DMHA to perform an evaluation of the LRAP. The primary objectives of the evaluation were to 1) identify successful outcomes associated with the program and 2) determine areas in need of improvement. The following report describes the evaluation methods, discusses results, identifies successes, and offers recommendations for future program improvement

2018 Dentist Re-Licensure Survey Instrument

This survey was administered between January 1st, 2018 – March 1st, 2018 to Dentists. This instrument is used for data collection in biennium re-licensure of Dental professionals in the State of Indiana.