The Future Pipeline of Healthcare
Partnerships for Success: Working Together to Build a "Pipeline" of Healthcare Workers to Meet Future Healthcare Needs
The Healthcare Workforce "Pipeline" is a conceptual vision of the educational and training pathway of students that eventually work as professionals in the healthcare system.
The Pipeline is comprised of educational institutions such as K-12 and Higher Education, clinical training sites, and healthcare providers including hospitals, clinics, doctor's offices, and more.
By identifying Healthcare Pipeline components, understanding these interconnected systems, and discovering where the pipeline may
be "leakage, it should be possible
to increase the supply of qualified healthcare workers in order to help alleviate the healthcare worker shortage.
A "leakage" could mean any types of issues that significantly affect and/or reduce the efficiency of the pipeline now or in the future. For example a shortage of nursing faculty or lack of clinical space to train students clearly reduces training capacity now, while limited exposure to healthcare career possibilities for K-12 students early on might be reduce the number of students seeking to enter healthcare in the future—both can be serious pipeline leakages
Source: University of North Dakota (2008).
Allied Health: The Hidden Health Care Workforce
In December 2007, CHA surveyed its hospital and health system members to determine which health professions have the greatest impact on access to care and hospital efficiencies when vacancies exist.
The survey results indicated that in allied health, the top two positions, aside from nurses, are clinical laboratory and medical imaging professionals. The survey also revealed that hospitals are adversely impacted by a shortage of pharmacists. Although pharmacists are not considered part of allied health, a shortage of just one hospital pharmacist can hinder hospital efficiencies and access to care.
This brief will focus on specific shortages in clinical laboratory and medical imaging, as well as in hospital pharmacy.
Pipeline Programs: Partnering with Public Health Care Programs
Vickie Ybarra
Pipeline programs are one important tool in ensuring an adequate and appropriate future public health workforce by encouraging an interest in the health professions among middleschool, high-school, and undergraduate students. However, pipeline programs have largely targeted medicine and, to a lesser extent, nursing and other personal health professions. One option for public health is to develop its own pipeline programs.
Assuring a Strong Pipeline for Pharmacy Education
Despite the upswing in interest in the profession of pharmacy secondary to the well-publicized workforce shortage, a vibrant and engaged pharmacy student body does not arise spontaneously. Rather, it must be visualized and cultivated early on to ensure a proper mix of qualified learners from all U.S. racial, ethnic and cultural populations.
Goal VI in the current AACP strategic plan honors this commitment to proactive admission planning by stating that the Association will stimulate recruitment and admission strategies to ensure diverse and competent student bodies for educational programs (professional degree, graduate degree, and postgraduate residencies and fellowships).
Resource Links: