Based on their extensive training, physicians are positioned as leaders within the health system. Therefore, information on the supply and distribution of Indiana’s physician workforce is critical to informing any health workforce policy or planning efforts. This fact sheet presents key information on Indiana’s physician workforce, including excerpts on primary care physicians and psychiatrists.
The oral health workforce is critical to achieving Healthy People 2020 objectives focused on promoting and sustaining oral health for all Americans. Dentists and dental hygienists are licensed health professionals whose primary focus is dental disease prevention and oral health promotion and restoration. These professions are the foundation of the oral health workforce. Understanding the number, distribution and characteristics of dentists and dental hygienists can be useful to inform policy discussions related to oral health and access to dental care. Data on Indiana’s dentist and dental hygienist workforce are gathered through a voluntary survey administered by the Indiana Professional Licensing Agency (IPLA) in conjunction with biennial license renewal. This report includes information on 2,259 dentists (58.8% response rate) and 3,231 dental hygienists (65.3% response rate) who renewed their license in 2016 and that met inclusion criteria (briefly describe inclusion criteria in footnote). Additional information on inclusion and exclusion criteria can be found in the Data Report: 2016 Indiana Oral Health Licensure Survey. Although great strides have been made to advance oral health in recent years, there is more work to be done. Nationally, 35.6% of adults over the age of 18 did not see a dentist in 2014,2 and 26% of adults age 20 to 64 were found to have untreated decay.3 Closer to home, we find that Hoosier children also struggle with dental diseases. A survey administered by the Indiana State Department of Health in 2013 revealed that 51% of Indiana third graders had a history of dental decay and 17% had untreated dental decay at the time of the survey.
Physician assistants (PAs) are medical practitioners who work under the supervision of a licensed physician. They play a vital role in the health care system by performing physical examinations, making diagnoses, and prescribing treatment to patients. In addition to these general responsibilities, PAs order and interpret laboratory tests, including X-rays, as well as suturing, splinting, and casting injuries. The physician assistant role was created in the 1960s to reducing barriers to accessing health care that had resulted from the increasing shortage or maldistribution of physicians, particularly in rural and underserved communities. Data on the PA workforce is critical to understanding capacity of this workforce in Indiana.
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.
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.