Healthcare workforce unprepared to handle surge of new patients under ACA

The U.S. healthcare workforce is unprepared to handle the 14 million people soon entering the system when coverage is provided by the Affordable Care Act in 2014, according to an Association of Academic Health Centers (AAHC) report.

“We are running out of time as the need to address health workforce issues becomes even more urgent,” according to the AAHC’s “A Call to Action” report (an update of its 2008 Out of Order, Out of Time report), which also cited the dramatic growth of an aging population as a stressor.

The AAHC laid out several policy recommendations for legislators:

• Adequately fund the National Health Care Workforce Commission (NHCWC) enabling it to commerce operation as soon as possible
• Urge the workforce commission to quicken its timetable to provide recommendations to policymakers to address the healthcare workforce challenge
• Engage with the commission regularly to bring to the public’s attention workforce issues and hold its members accountable

The report urges policy discussions to incorporate the following elements:

• Strategies that encourage a greater diversity of students to pursue healthcare careers
• Policies promoting a strong geographic distribution of health professionals and a greater mix of specialties between residents and medical students
• Policies that take advantage of emerging healthcare technologies and encourage innovative approaches, including interprofessional care teams, telehealth and value-based payment platforms.

To view the report, go here.