Over the last several decades, information has been collected from health professionals during online license renewal. In 2018, Senate Enrolled Act 223 identified selected pieces of information (including educational and practice characteristics) as critical to the state of Indiana. Beginning in 2019, it will now be required for health professionals to provide this information when they renew their license.
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.
Pharmacists’ primary responsibilities include dispensing and managing medications and educating patients on medication use. In addition to traditional responsibilities, pharmacists are also taking on new roles delivering patient services in various health care settings as a part of care teams. As the pharmacy profession evolves, policymakers, educators, and health administrators will need to have a good understanding of the workforce to inform effective policy development and implementation.
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 2,697 dentists (67.4% response rate) and 3,521 dental hygienists (70.4% response rate) who renewed their license in 2018 and that met inclusion criteria (briefly described inclusion criteria in footnote). Additional information on inclusion and exclusion criteria can be found in the Data Report: 2018 Indiana Oral Health.
This report examines the barriers that Indiana physicians and dentists encounter in participating in Medicaid. The information was collected from the 2017 Physician Licensure Survey and 2018 Dentist Licensure Survey.