Reconfiguring health workforce policy so that education, training, and actual delivery of care are closely connected.
There is growing consensus that the health care workforce in the United States needs to be reconfigured to meet the needs of a health care system that is being rapidly and permanently redesigned. Accountable care organizations and patient-centered medical homes, for instance, will greatly alter the mix of caregivers needed and create new roles for existing health care workers. The focus of health system innovation, however, has largely been on reorganizing care delivery processes, reengineering workflows, and adopting electronic technology to improve outcomes. Little attention has been paid to training workers to adapt to these systems and deliver patient care in ever more coordinated systems, such as integrated health care networks that harmonize primary care with acute inpatient and postacute long-term care. This article highlights how neither regulatory policies nor market forces are keeping up with a rapidly changing delivery system and argues that training and education should be connected more closely to the actual delivery of care.
['Ricketts|Thomas C|TC|', 'Fraher|Erin P|EP|']
D003695:Delivery of Health Care D004059:Diffusion of Innovation D004526:Efficiency D018166:Health Care Reform D006281:Health Occupations D006291:Health Policy D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand D006280:Health Workforce D006801:Humans D024382:Professional Role D014481:United States
Health Professions Education Politics Workforce Issues