Health Care Professionals 1

Assignment #4- Health Care Professionals

Kevin D. Lowther

Dr. George Ojie-Ahamiojie

Health Services Organization-HAS 500

Summer 2010
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Abstract

This paper explores issues related to health care professionals. First, the paper examines

three reasons why there may be a physician shortage rather than a surplus in the United States.

Secondly, three factors that contribute to the nursing shortage in the U.S are explored. Thirdly,

the roles of health professionals in the health care system are examined. Finally, the paper

examines the roles of a health service administrator in the U.S. health care system.
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1. Identify and describe three reasons there may be a physician shortage rather

than a surplus in the United States.

During most of the 1990s the common wisdom was that physicians were being produced

in numbers far greater than the demand for medical care in the U.S. could support. Many

recommended that as much as 20 to 25% of the physician-generating capacity of the country

should be cut. Several other researchers produced studies demonstrating an impending

oversupply. While still other researchers disputed those studies, the media and organizations

such as the American Medical Association seemed to support the view of a physician surplus.

However, today the majority now sees things the other way, and a change is reflected in the

positions of such organizations as the Association of American Medical Colleges, the AMA, and

the Council on Graduate Medical Education. Consequently, all now project a physician

shortage.

During the 1990s the main workforce topic was whether Medicare should continue its

several billion dollar funding for residency training. Congress, in its attempt to address the

issue, commissioned the Council on Graduate Medical Education (CGME), which reported that

by the year 2000 the expected staffing ratio of one physician for every 370 citizens was more

than adequate and that the country would be well advised to scale back on residency funded

programs. Thus, without clear demonstration that increasing physician supply will have a

positive impact on health outcomes, CGME believed that enrollment should be cut 15% in order

to control physician supply. Due to this strategic action, many predict a potential severe

shortage of physicians which could further restrict access to care within the U.S. health care

system.

One of the key assumptions in several studies was that managed care in the future would

reduce the demand for physicians. However, Williams & Torrens (2010) contend that physicians
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and patients seem to prefer choice to efficiency, which will add pressure for more physicians,

and is the first of several possible factors fueling fears of a new physician shortage. Another

understated reason for projecting a physician shortage in coming years is the rapid aging of the

U.S. population in general. It is well known that patients over the age of 65 require substantially

more direct physician care than do younger patients.

Physicians themselves favor a more controllable lifestyle contend William Torrens

(2010). In the academic year 2000-2001 nearly 46% of the incoming first year medical students

were women (Tilden, 2001). While the numbers may have been recognized, the differences in

their work style and career patterns have not been seen as the supply and demand issue they

represent. Women still do a majority of the tasks surrounding the raising of children and

maintaining a home, leaving less children and maintaining a home, leaving less time available

for practice. Taken together this important demographic shift within the workforce may produce

more pressure for more rather than fewer physicians (Williams & Torrens, 2010, p. 270).

2. Identify and describe three factors that contribute to the nursing shortage in the

United States

Despite being the largest group of licensed health care professionals in the United States,

registered nurses are experiencing a shortage in relation to demand. Williams & Torrens (2010)

assert that the cause of the nursing shortage is a confluence of factors, which may include the

declining number of nursing school enrollments, the aging of the RN workforce, nurses not

employed in nursing, declines in relative earnings, and emergence of alternative job

opportunities.

The U.S. continues to face an aging nursing workforce and an explosion in the need for

skilled nursing as the baby boom generation starts to retire, and health care and care technology

grow increasingly complex. Legislative efforts to combat the shortage have not yet had a
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significant impact nationwide. The federal Nurse Reinvestment Act contains promising

measures, including incentives to increase the number of nursing faculty, and to the credit of its

supporters it has received some funding, though not much relative to other federal programs, and

not enough to have a meaningful impact. A number of states have made efforts to address the

shortage. California has taken the lead in implementing mandatory nurse staffing ratios that

appear to have had a positive impact on patient care and nurse satisfaction, despite fierce and

ongoing opposition from the hospital and insurance industries, who argue that specific ratios are

impractical and may force hospitals to close. It is now projected that if current trends continue

the United States will be short 275,000 nurses by the year 2010, and that the nation will need to

educate about 1.1 million new nurses by 2012, which is almost half the size of today's nursing

workforce.

3. Identify and describe at least three roles the public health professional has in the

health care system.

A public health professional is a person educated in public health or a related discipline

who is employed to improve health through a population focus. These professionals must have a

broad range of skills and information. They must be able to understand and apply new advances

in science They must be proficient in communication in order to interact effectively with

multiple audiences, to understand and incorporate the needs and perspectives of culturally

diverse communities in public health interventions and research, and to inform policy. Further,

public health professionals will need to apply new approaches to research, approaches that

involve practitioners, researchers, and the community in joint efforts to improve health and to

understand global health issues that increasingly transcend national boundaries. Of course,

public health professionals must be able to identify and address the numerous ethical issues that

arise in public health practice and research.

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Public health professionals respond to emerging areas, changing diseases, new priorities,

and new technologies which are all vital to sustainability of the Unites States health care system.

Continued support and financing of trained public health professionals is critical. Williams &

Torrens (2010) contend that current budget deficits have led to reductions in government

spending for the health professions, which have led to stories being more common of hospitals

have nursing shortages, as well as pharmacists in most of the allied health professions and in

certain medical specialists.

4. Identify and describe at least three roles that a health service administrator has in

the health care system.

Health service administrators are essential to a system that employs hundreds of

thousands of physicians, nurses, health specialists, and other non-health workers. Health care

administrators run the health care system, coordinating and organizing the financing and delivery

of care and assisting in the management of health facilities. Executive-level administrators are

highly educated individuals responsible for overall policy directions. They assess the need for

services, equipment and personnel and also make recommendations regarding the expansion or

curtailment of services, and the establishment of new or auxiliary facilities. They also oversee

compliance with government agencies and regulations. Their duties tend to vary with the size

and operations of the health facility where they are employed; generally, smaller facilities have

less staff support so administrators are left with larger work loads. Depending on their expertise

and experience, some assistants oversee the activities of clinical departments such as nursing or

surgery, or they may direct the operations of non-health areas such as personnel, finance and

public relations. At nursing homes, home health agencies, and other smaller facilities, the duties

and responsibilities of administrators are vast and varied. Administrators wear multiple hats in
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departments such as human resources, finance and operations, and admissions. Clinical managers

are health specialists who supervise specific clinical services in the health care industry. They

have job-specific training and are involved with implementing policies and procedures for their

departments, while coordinating their activities with other managers. Policy decisions do not fall

within the parameters of managers for small group practices, but larger groups usually retain the

services of a full-time administrator who not only coordinates activities on a day-to-day basis but

also develops and implements business strategies.

Health care administrators can apply their training in health and management as

underwriters for health insurance companies and HMOs and in sales, marketing and distribution

of health equipment and supplies. Some become directors of public health, social welfare

administrators, and directors of health agencies. An administrator with a Ph.D. might consult,

teach, or do research.

References

Gebbie, K., Rosenstock, L., & Hernandez, L. (2003). Who Will Keep the Public Healthy?
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Educating Public Health Professionals for the 21st Century. The National Academies

Press. Retrieved from the internet August 19, 2010. http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?

record_id=10542&page=R1

The Center for Nursing Advocacy. (2007). Retrieved from the internet August 19, 2010.

www.nursingadvocacy.org/faq/nursing_shortage.html.

The Princeton Review. (2008). Health Care Administrator: A Day in the Life of a Health

Administrator. Retrieved from the internet August 19, 2010.

http://www.princetonreview.com/Careers.aspx?cid=76.

Tilden, N. (2001). The Coming Shortage of Physicians in the U.S. Retrieved from the internet

August 19, 2010. www.nejmjobs.org/rpt/coming-physicianshortage.aspx.

Williams, S. & Torrens, P. (2010). Introduction to Health Services. HSA 500:

2010 Custom

Edition
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