Journal Articles

Mertz EA, Wides CD, Kottek AM, Calvo JM, Gates PE. Underrepresented Minority Dentists: Quantifying Their Numbers and Characterizing the Communities They Serve. Health Affairs. 2016;35(12):2190-2199.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2016.1122

The underrepresentation of Blacks, Hispanics or Latinos, and American Indians or Alaska Natives among dentists raises concerns about the diversity of the dental workforce, disparities in access to dental care and in oral health status, and social justice. We quantified the shortage of underrepresented minority dentists and examined these dentists’ practice patterns in relation to the characteristics of the communities they serve. The underrepresented minority dentist workforce is disproportionately smaller than, and unevenly distributed in relation to, minority populations in the United States. Members of minority groups represent larger shares of these dentists’ patient panels than of the populations in the communities where the dentists are located. Compared to counties with no underrepresented minority dentists, counties with one or more such dentists are more racially diverse and affluent but also have greater economic and social inequality. Current policy approaches to improve the diversity of the dental workforce are a critical first step, but more must be done to improve equity in dental health.

Moore J, Continelli T. Racial/Ethnic Pay Disparities among Registered Nurses (RNs) in US Hospitals: An Econometric Regression Decomposition. Health Services Research. 2016;51(2):511-529.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1475-6773.12337

 There is growing recognition of the importance of health workforce diversity in improving cultural competence in health care and reducing health disparities. Registered nursing, like many other health professions, is not a racially and ethnically diverse as the country’s population. Cross-sectional data were analyzed using multivariate regression and regression decomposition to detect the presence of racial and ethnic pay disparities between minority and white hospital RNs using a national sample.

Langelier MH, Glicken AD, Surdu S. Adoption of Oral Health Curriculum by Physician Assistant Education Programs in 2014. J Physician Assist Educ. 2015;26(2):60-69.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/JPA.0000000000000024

This study was undertaken to ascertain the number of PA programs teaching oral health topics and to evaluate the content of instruction and implementation strategies. A previous study in 2008 found that PA education program directors generally understood the importance of teaching about the linkage of oral health with systemic health; yet, few programs had actually integrated oral health instruction into the PA curriculum. The purpose of the study was to describe inclusion of didactic and clinical instruction in oral health in physician assistant (PA) education programs in 2014.

Moore J, Brush B, Martiniano M, McGinnis S. A Profile of Foreign-Trained Registered Nurses Working in New York City. In: Moore J, Dal Paz M, Perfilieva G, Doan B, eds.), National Health Workforce: The Growth of Challenging Trends. Paris, France: Centre de Sociologie et de Demographic Medicales; 2008:213-231.

In October 2007, an international symposium on health workforce was held in Lisbon, Portugal, under the aegis of the World Health Organization and the Portuguese Ministry of Health. Over three days, 75 researchers and policy-makers from 22 countries met and exchanged their views and experiences on the situation of their national health workforce, with a particular emphasis on the shortcomings and negative trends which reduce the performance the health system. From all the papers contributed to the Symposium, 23 were selected to constitute the various chapters of this book.

Moore J, Dal Paz M, Perfilieva G, Doan B. The Symposium of Lisbon. In: Moore J, Dal Paz M, Perfilieva G, Doan B, eds.), National Health Workforce: The Growth of Challenging Trends. Paris, France: Centre de Sociologie et de Demographic Medicales; 2008:viii-xiv.

In October 2007, an international symposium on health workforce was held in Lisbon, Portugal, under the aegis of the World Health Organization and the Portuguese Ministry of Health. Over three days, 75 researchers and policy-makers from 22 countries met and exchanged their views and experiences on the situation of their national health workforce, with a particular emphasis on the shortcomings and negative trends which reduce the performance the health system. From all the papers contributed to the Symposium, 23 were selected to constitute the various chapters of this book.

Moore J, McGinnis S, Continelli T. Aging and the Public Health Workforce. Annual Review of Gerontology and Geriatrics. 2006;25(6).

This paper, published in the Annual Review of Gerontology and Geriatrics, examines the impacts of the aging of the country’s public health nurses (PHN) and public health physicians (PHP). The findings suggest potential shortages of public health nurses and physicians in local health departments, especially in rural areas. The findings also point to the need for public health prevention efforts aimed at older adults to include driving cessation, medication safety, and fall prevention, while existing public health prevention programs must be tailored to the needs of older adults.

 

Boulton ML, Beck AJ, Coronado F, et al. Public health workforce taxonomy. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 2014; 47(5):S314-S323. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2014.07.015

Thoroughly characterizing and continuously monitoring the public health workforce is necessary for ensuring capacity to deliver public health services. A prerequisite for this is to develop a standardized methodology for classifying public health workers, permitting valid comparisons across agencies and over time, which does not exist for the public health workforce. An expert working group, all of whom are authors on this paper, was convened during 2012–2014 to develop a public health workforce taxonomy.

Abramson EL, McGinnis S, Moore J, Kaushal R. A statewide assessment of electronic health record adoption and health information exchange among nursing homes. Health Services Research. 2014;49(1pt2): 361-372. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1475-6773.12137

A cross-sectional study was designed to assess level of EHR implementation, automation of key functionalities, participation in HIE, and barriers to adoption in New York State nursing homes.

Dower C, Moore J, Langelier M. It is time to restructure health professions scope-of-practice regulations to remove barriers to care. Health Affairs. 2013;32(11):1971-1976. http://10.1377/hlthaff.2013.0537b

Regulation and licensure of health professionals—nurses, physicians, pharmacists, and others—currently falls to the states. State laws and regulations define legal scopes of practice for these practitioners. Concern is growing that this system cannot support workforce innovations needed for an evolving health care system or for successful implementation of the Affordable Care Act. This article highlights reforms that are needed to strengthen health professions regulation, including aligning scopes of practice with professional competence for each profession in all states; assuring the regulatory flexibility needed to recognize emerging and overlapping roles for health professionals; increasing the input of consumers; basing decisions on the best available evidence and allowing demonstration programs; and establishing a national clearinghouse for scope-of-practice information.