Over the past decade, an increasing number of states and organizations have been collecting health workforce data. Consistent and reliable data collection is essential for effective health workforce planning, as it serves several key purposes:
Supply Data: Provides insights into the availability and distribution of health care professionals, informs supply-and-demand forecasting models, and supports the development of workforce programs and policies
Demand Data: Helps identify workforce shortages and anticipate future needs
Education Pipeline Data: Offers early indicators of potential disruptions in the pipeline of new health care professionals, aiding long-term planning
To facilitate these efforts, the Health Workforce Technical Assistance Center (HWTAC) conducts an ongoing survey of states to gather information about their health workforce data collection and analysis activities. This brief highlights findings from this survey to date.
Citation: Armstrong D, Pang J, Shirey S. Health Workforce Data Collection in the United States. Center for Health Workforce Studies, University at Albany, College of Integrated Health Sciences; February, 2025.
For over 20 years, the Center for Health Workforce Studies (CHWS) has conducted annual surveys of the deans and directors of New York’s registered nurse (RN) education programs. The survey asks about nursing program applications, admissions, faculty issues, barriers to expanding nursing program capacity, and respondents’ assessment of the local job market for newly trained RNs. In addition to presenting results from the 2023 survey, this report documents trends in RN production at regional and state levels using graduation data provided by the New York State Education Department, with missing data supplemented by other sources.
Citation: Martiniano R and Shirey P. Trends in New York Registered Nurse Graduations, 2014-2023. Center for Health Workforce Studies, University at Albany, College of Integrated Health Sciences; 2024.
This report highlights major access barriers to oral health services for adults in New York. By examining the unique challenges New Yorkers face in obtaining necessary oral health services, the report provides evidence-based insights for policymakers and stakeholders to develop strategies that reduce oral health disparities and improve access to care, particularly for historically underserved populations.
Citation: Surdu S, Sasaki N, Pang J, Moore J. Consumer Survey Focused on Experiences Accessing Oral Health Services in New York State. Rensselaer, NY: Center for Health Workforce Studies, University at Albany, College of Integrated Health Sciences; October 2024.
The HWRCs’ 2024 Annual Report captures the work conducted by the federally-funded HWRCs throughout the past year. The research studies highlight the continued impact of COVID-19 on the health workforce, including topics such as burnout, telehealth, staffing trends and turnover, and strategies to recruit and retain health workers.
This report summarizes health workforce recruitment and retention difficulties reported by providers across health care settings in New York State, including documenting the reasons for these difficulties. The report also summarizes strategies that health care providers are using to address these difficulties.
Citation: Martiniano R, Sage S. Health Care Worker Recruitment and Retention in New York State: What Are the Issues?. Rensselaer, NY: Center for Health Workforce Studies, University at Albany, College of Integrated Health Sciences; September 2024.
A robust and diverse supply of new health professionals is essential for our health care delivery system. The health care needs of the population are continuously changing due to factors such as population growth, aging, and the increasing prevalence of chronic diseases. To meet this rising demand and ensure that all individuals have access to timely and adequate care, a sufficient number of health professionals is necessary. A diverse and well-distributed workforce ensures that health care services are accessible in all geographic areas, including underserved rural and urban communities.
This report uses Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) data to describe outcomes for 32 health professions education programs between the years 2013 and 2022. It contains information on the number of awards conferred and the gender and race/ethnicity of individuals completing the programs.
Citation: Pang J, Armstrong DP. Health Professions Education Program Outcomes, 2013-2022. Rensselaer, NY: Center for Health Workforce Studies, University at Albany, School of Public Health; August 2024.
Physician workforce shortages, especially in primary care, are projected through the next decade and beyond. Understanding trends in demand for physicians by specialty can help policy makers anticipate and address current and future shortages. This report presents demand indicator profiles for 25 specialties. Each specialty profile summarizes trends in 5 key areas related to physician supply and demand, including: starting income, job offers, having to change plans due to limited practice opportunities, relative demand, and numbers of graduates. Data on starting income, job offers, having to change plans, and relative demand are based on responses to the Resident Exit Survey in New York (for the years 2018 to 2023).
Citation: Pang J, Armstrong DP. Trends in Demand for New Physicians, 2018-2023: A Summary of Demand Indicators for 25 Physician Specialties. Rensselaer, NY: Center for Health Workforce Studies, University at Albany, School of Public Health; August 2024.
The 2024 oral health needs assessment aims to improve access to oral health (OH) services in New York State (NYS) by identifying areas with the highest OH needs and addressing access barriers, particularly for underserved and vulnerable populations. This study adopts a community-centric approach, analyzing OH and social indicators at the rational service area (RSA) level to provide a comprehensive understanding of OH needs. The findings advocate for policy changes to expand the OH workforce, in order to benefit low-income populations, children, individuals with disabilities, and the elderly. The assessment involved creating RSAs based on demographic and socio-economic factors, collecting and analyzing relevant data, and ranking RSAs based on a composite OH need score.
Citation: Harun N, Kang B, Fernando T, Surdu S. Oral Health Needs Assessment for New York State, 2024. Rensselaer, NY: Center for Health Workforce Studies, University at Albany, School of Public Health; July 2024.
The Center for Health Workforce Studies, with support from the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation, conducted a mixed methods study of New York hospitals to better understand issues related to persistent RN recruitment and retention challenges. The researchers identified the factors that contributed most to the problem and the most promising strategies to improve the recruitment and retention of patient care RNs, with a special emphasis on safety-net hospitals.
Citation: Martiniano R, Shirey S, Moore J. Understanding and Responding to Registered Nursing Shortages in Acute Care Hospitals in New York. Rensselaer, NY: Center for Health Workforce Studies, University at Albany, School of Public Health; July 2024.
This issue brief from the AAMC Research and Action Institute’s Fellow in Residence, Gaetano Forte, MS, Assistant Director, Center for Health Workforce Studies, University at Albany, SUNY, presents an approach to better understand the roles and contributions of nurse practitioners (NPs) and physician associates (PAs) on the health care team and how this new knowledge should be incorporated into existing workforce projections models. The paper proposes a 2-pronged solution to modeling deficits and to better project supply and demand for NPs and PAs and asserts that models should adapt to how the workforce changes, including how it is composed, how it is deployed, and how it accomplishes its work.
Citation: Forte G. How Improved Health Workforce Projection Models Could Support Policy. AAMC Research and Action Institute’s website. Published July 9, 2024. Accessed July 9, 2024. https://www.aamcresearchinstitute.org/our-work/issue-brief/how-improved-health-workforce-projection-models-could-support-policy
