Reports & Briefs

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.

Download Consumer Survey: Barriers to Accessing Oral Health Services in New York State (pdf) - 2 MB

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.

Download 2024 HWRC Annual Report (pdf) - 5 MB

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.

Download Health Care Worker Recruitment and Retention in New York State: What Are the Issues? (pdf) - 2 MB Download Infographic (pdf) - 843 KB

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.

Download Health Professions Education Program Outcomes, 2013-2022 (pdf) - 7 MB

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.

Download Trends in Demand for New Physicians, 2018-2023 (pdf) - 2 MB

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.

Download Oral Health Needs Assessment for New York State, 2024 (pdf) - 11 MB

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.

Download Understanding and Responding to Registered Nursing Shortages in Acute Care Hospitals in New York (pdf) - 3 MB Download Brief (pdf) - 3 MB Download Innovative Strategies to Improve Registered Nurse (RN) Recruitment and Retention Infograph (pdf) - 175 KB

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

This report summarizes data from a variety of sources to describe New York State’s health workforce. Key goals of this report are to assist policy makers and other stakeholders to make informed decisions on health workforce education and job training investments, to help them address the most pressing health workforce needs, and to guide health workforce policies.

Citation: Martiniano R, Romero A, Pang J, Akeju O, Kang B, Allegretti M. The Health Care Workforce in New York State: Trends in the Supply of and Demand for Health Workers. Rensselaer, NY: Center for Health Workforce Studies, School of Public Health, SUNY Albany; April 2024.

Download The Health Care Workforce in New York State: Trends in the Supply of and Demand for Health Care Workers (pdf) - 10 MB

This report summarizes the results of the Survey of Residents Completing Training in New York (Exit Survey) conducted by the Center for Health Workforce Studies (CHWS) in the spring and summer of 2023. The survey consists of questions covering the following general topics: residents’ demographic and background characteristics, residents’ post-graduation plans, characteristics of post-graduation employment (for residents with confirmed practice plans), and residents’ experiences in searching for a job and their impressions of the physician job market.

The primary goal of the Exit Survey is to assist the medical education community and policy makers in New York in their efforts to train physicians to meet the needs of the state and the nation. To achieve this goal, CHWS provides residency programs, teaching hospitals, and the medical education community with information about the demand for new physicians and the outcomes of residency training by specialty based on the results of the survey.

Citation: Pang J, Armstrong D, Shirey S. 2023 New York Residency Training Outcomes: A Summary of Responses to the 2023 New York Resident Exit Survey. Rensselaer, NY: Center for Health Workforce Studies, School of Public Health, University at Albany; April 2024.

Download 2023 New York Residency Training Outcomes: A Summary of Responses to the 2023 New York Resident Exit Survey (pdf) - 9 MB