Healthcare Personnel Shortage Census

A priority of the Health Care Personnel Shortage Task Force is to conduct a regular census of all licensed
health care personnel.

Why does Washington need a regular census of all licensed health care personnel?
Washington State does not have the data necessary to make the best use of scarce resources, be it for:

• Projecting numbers of health care program graduates needed more accurately
  
• Planning for the future, to avoid future shortages or an oversupply
  
• Identifying medically underserved areas
  
• Understanding how many practitioners actually practice
  
• Understanding how many practitioners migrate to the state or out of the state
  
• Identifying practitioner specialties and places of work (hospital, clinic, school, etc.)
  
• Understanding how to address shortages with greater efficiency:
  o e.g., The problem may be retention rather than lack of individuals prepared to work
  
• Recruiting diverse populations to specific professions

Entities supporting this proposal:
Washington Center for Nursing, Washington State Hospital Association, Washington State Medical Association, the Health Scholarship and Loan Advisory Committee.

What kind of data would we collect?
The Workforce Board and the Department of Health, in partnership with health workforce stakeholders, have determined eight data elements that are identified across a variety of purposes:

1. Specialty
   
2. Age
   
3. Race/Ethnicity
   
4. Extent of Practice (part-time full-time)
   
5. Practice statistics, such as hours spent in direct care
   
6. Work zip codes
   
7. Longevity and migration
   
8. Facility type such as a hospital, private laboratory, or clinic

How would we collect the information?

• A survey of all licensed health care professionals would be conducted at the same time every two years.
  
• This would provide a data snapshot for one point in time.
  
• Professional associations would send a letter to members asking them to complete the survey, and follow-up will be included in the design to increase response rates.

The Health Care Personnel Shortage Task Force comprises 20 state leaders from business, labor, education, professional associations, and government convened by the Workforce Board.

Executive Director: Ellen O’Brien Saunders, 360.753.5660    Policy Analyst: Madeleine Thompson, 360.753.5653