Project Accomplishments:

The Arizona Action Coalition identified a statewide need for a sustainable, consistent, reliable, valid, and integrated system for capturing health care workforce data from many professions. Supply data was available from health professional licensing organizations, but was collected by multiple sources and organizations, and without a well-known, agreed-upon process and system for Arizona. The SIP team began by convening a collaborative interprofessional group of stakeholders to form a steering committee and workgroups that guided the project.

The efforts of these groups increased the awareness and utilization of database resources in Arizona through the publication of the “Data Analysis Report: Current Arizona Health Care Databases and Data Sources.” Another outcome of this work was the publication of a comprehensive report on primary care providers, entitled “Arizona’s Primary Health Care Workforce, 2008-2016.” Publication of these reports led the Arizona State Legislature to create a task force on health care professional workforce data, and charged the group with completing its work by January 2018.  The Arizona SIP work informed the work of the task force. Its work increased the knowledge of resources and broke down silos and barriers between various organizations and agencies across the state and linked Arizona to other state workforce centers and resources across the country

Diversity:

The Arizona Action Coalition Diversity Council connected with local chapters of the National Association of Hispanic Nurses (NAHN), the Black Nurses Association, and the Philippine Nurses Association to recruit mentors/preceptors for nursing students at two nursing programs in the state.  The Diversity Council developed mentor and student objectives to advance the health of Arizona’s underserved populations and provide care for diverse populations. Overs the two-year grant cycle, 30 mentors and 25 mentees (students) participated in the project.

Resources:

• Arizona Inventories Nursing Workforce Data Sources and Databases
• Arizona Action Coalition Collaborates with Vitalyst Health Foundation and Shares Policy Primer Focused on Community Health Workers

Publications:

• Arizona State University, College of Health Solutions; Center for Health Information and Research; William Johnson & Gevork Harootunian, March 2017 Research Report on Arizona Primary Care Providers from Data Stored in its Repository; Analysis and Report on healthcare workforce data; produce descriptive statistics/results and data elements
• Inventory of Current Arizona Health Workforce Databases and Data Sources; December 2016; Joe Tabor, PhD; Data Analysis Report
• Primary Care Data Dictionary, December 2016; Current Arizona Health Workforce Databases and Data Sources, Joe Tabor, PhD, Consultant
• Luke’s Health Initiatives (now Vitalyst Health Foundation) Arizona Health Futures; Health Workforce, Healthy Economy; April 2015

Policy Primers: A nonpartisan guide to a better understanding of key terms and issues in the Arizona health policy landscape. Overview of Arizona’s Health Workforce Needs