Health care workforce challenges: How to find the real news

By Tracey Drury, New York Health Journalism Fellowship

Journalists reporting on health care workforce challenges should focus on identifying reliable sources for data and research. That was the main takeaway during an HJ24 panel about shifting trends like physician shortages, nurse burnout, expanded scope of practice, emerging jobs in the workforce and recruiting international professionals.

Session moderator Barbara Feder Ostrov said that trends and challenges differ not only within each industry sector but also between states. "What I've learned is [that] they are nuanced, regional and political," she said.

Jean Moore, Dr.P.H., F.A.A.N., director of the Center for Health Workforce Studies at the University at Albany School of Public Health, introduced several databases and reports available from the center that provide independent, reliable data and research that highlight current workforce issues. That included several collaborative efforts with groups like the Oral Health Workforce Research Center and a compendium of federal data sources.

It's important to note that sometimes, shortages mean different things to people, Morre explained. "It's so hard to say 'physician shortage' when New York has more physicians per capita than most other states," she said. "We have a lot of physicians but not in the specialties we need and not in the areas we need. So it's an issue but a somewhat different issue than some others."

Reporters should also take care when using data to compare regions. Rae Ellen Bichell, Colorado correspondent with KFF Health News, pointed to the federal professional workforce shortage areas.

"Each state has different capacity and priority areas, and so you end up with things that aren't comparable by state," she said.

Bichell cited two resources to track primary care: the 2024 scoreboard data dashboard by the Milbank Memorial Fund at the Robert Graham Center, which compares the states and the Medicaid primary care workforce tracker from George Washington University's Mullen Institute, which tracks state and county level.

She echoed Moore's findings on the definition of shortage. "Is the problem [that] there aren't enough doctors or are they not specializing in the right things," she said. "It's really maldistribution and also when people are being trained, they're really incentivized into not going into primary care for a lot of reasons."

Liliana Heredia spoke about efforts to address existing shortages by the Community Health Care Association of New York State, where she is vice president of workforce development. The organization represents 70-plus centers with more than 800 locations across the state. She highlighted the importance of culture and the importance of creating a workplace that will both attract and keep workers. That happens in part by offering opportunities to upskill existing workers.

"The competition is fierce," she said. "What can we do to change the culture of the organization and make people feel a part of the health center?"

Heredia highlighted an effort by the association to join five other states in certifying dental therapists and medical assistants to fill gaps in care. The association also played a role in getting New York to approve the state's first medical assistant apprenticeship program this year by providing enhanced jobs.

"It's all about innovation and doing something different," she said.

Tracey Drury is senior reporter at Buffalo Business First, a publication of American City Business Journals. She was a 2024 New York Health Journalism Fellow.

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