1)Engage Montanans in understanding and supporting local, regional and statewide healthcare workforce efforts / Measures and Outcomes / Accomplishments
- Provide clear, comprehensive, and actionable information about Montana’s healthcare workforce
ii)Analysis of the capacity of postsecondary health professions and training programs
iii)Current and projected shortages of key professions and workers
iv)Regions and communities facing the biggest healthcare workforce challenges / Develop the MT Healthcare Workforce Plan, including information on employment, post-secondary training, key shortages and regions facing the most extreme challenges / Workforce Strategic Plan completed in November 2011. Report is available online and can be downloaded in its entirety or section specific.
- Prepare local, regional and state reports on the economic impact of healthcare and the healthcare workforce
- Distribute a summary report that provides clear information and strategies that can strengthen the workforce in communities, across regions and for the entire state
- Through local, regional, and statewide forums, build an understanding of how Montana can support the healthcare workforce the state needs
2)Increase the capacity to analyze the state’s workforce and target funding to education and training / Measures and Outcomes / Accomplishments
- Support healthcare workforce analysis functions at the Montana Department of Labor, the Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education, the Montana Primary Care Office at DPHHS, the EMS and Trauma Systems Section at DPHHS, the Montana AHEC/Office of Rural Health and the UW Healthcare Workforce Center
- Provide high quality data
ii)Prepare annual statewide reports on healthcare workforce supply, demand and projects
iii)Publish the annual Pathways Into Healtheducation brochure, with targeted brochures on specific professions / Track licensure boards that have collect MDS information, publish reports on statewide healthcare workforce, publish Pathways brochure—targeted to specific professions / See previous information re: Minimum Data Sets. Pathways Into Health has been published annually through the AHEC office. Additionally, an Oral Health Careers Pathway brochure has been published.
- Create a Montana Healthcare Workforce Data Collaborative that provides a forum for public and private sector analysis of the multi-faceted data around the workforce
- Do no harm – improve understanding and support for the existing programs that are educating Montana’s physicians, nurses, and allied health professionals
- Inventory funding from HRSA, DOLETA, and other federal and state programs that are currently used to support health professions education and healthcare workforce training in Montana
- Target grantwriting and funding strategies to clearly identified shortages and underserved areas:
ii)Primary Care Providers – Physicians, APRNs, PAs
iii)Critical Access Hospitals and Rural Health Clinics
iv)Community Health Centers
v)Health Information Technology workforce
vi)Allied Health Professionals – Graduate, Undergraduate, Certificate Level
vii)Oral Health
viii)Front line patient care, dietary, environmental services and administrative staff
ix)Mental health/behavioral health workforce
x)Emergency Medical Services workforce / Track number of grants and funding awarded to support specific workforce professional shortages and underserved areas / Grantwritingopportunites have been pursued in the following areas: Primary Care workforce development (through the Network Grant), Oral Health workforce development, Academic Progression in Nursing , Rural HIT, Strategic Prevention Enhancement Planning (Behavioral/Mental Health), Innovation grants for frontier medicine, Outreach Grant—Behavioral Health (social worker/post-doc psychologist teams). The state legislature increased funding to WWAMI (to increase the number of medical school slots available), as well as increased funding for GME across the state.
3) Create Partnerships / Measures and Outcomes / Accomplishments
- Link employers, higher education, workforce training programs, state agencies, the business community and local government through the Montana Healthcare Workforce Advisory Council
- Support or create regional healthcare workforce partnerships for regional planning and project development
- Utilize the partnerships to target funding to high demand areas; create joint grant proposals; engage in on-going strategic planning; and to evaluate the most effective strategies for regions and states
track regional workforce planning efforts and strategies / See previous comments (2-F and 3-B)
EDUCATE and TRAIN
1)Growing our own – supporting our own residents to become the health professionals and employees Montana needs. / Measures and Outcomes / Accomplishments
A. Admission policies that target Montana students, particularly from rural and underserved communities (WWAMI, WWAMI TRUST, similar programs) / Track numbers of students from rural and underserved communities admitted to healthcare career education programs
B. Scholarships, tuition policies and loan forgiveness programs to support Montana students in the health professions needed in Montana
i)WWAMI
ii)WICHE and slots in other out-of-state programs not available in Montana
iii)Montana Rural Physician Incentive Program (MRPIP loan forgiveness)
iv)National Health Service Corps programs (existing)
v)Pilot project to target NHSC programs to highest demand communities – Montana Health Service Corps
vi)Nursing Education Incentives – Scholarships, Bridge Programs, partnerships with Tribal Colleges
vii)Create an allied health loan forgiveness program similar to MRPIP / Track where financial incentive programs are being utilized,
develop allied health incentive programs
C. Local financial incentives targeted
to link health professions students to practice in the community upon graduation / Local healthcare facilities, local businesses and governments
2)Preparing our next generation, particularly from rural Montana and underserved communities, to succeed in health professions education – academics, exposure to health careers, career guidance, and bridges to post-secondary education / Measures and Outcomes / Accomplishments
A. Continue to expand health occupations programs in Montana High Schools through the Office of Public Instruction Health Career Pathways
i)State health careers program specialist to coordinate program development and implementation
ii)Provide assistance to schools in implementing curriculum, utilizing state/federal funding, and teacher certification
iii)Assure that local programs are approved and eligible to receive funding and resources
iv)Provide teacher training and support with curriculum resources
v)Link curriculum to graduation requirements and entry into health professions program / Track number of high schools offering health
science/ occupation programs of study / 2010-2011:
14 schools (1631 students) offered Health Science Program
2011-2012
17 schools (1571 students) offered Health Science Program
2012-2013:
22 schools (2049 students)
offered Health Science Program
Health Science teacher training offered in summer each year.
Teacher training is now offered online—may increase number of participants because they will not have to travel to attend training. For 2013, 11 new health science teachers will be trained.
B. Assist and support partnerships among education and practice settings to create and support local health careers programs / Track support for health careers programs through partnerships / Partnerships have been developed for funding teacher training: 2011 Monida Health Network, 2012 National Library of Sciences, and 2013 Strengthening the Big Sky Pathways Grant (Missoula). Gear-Up (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs) has committed to supporting 25 MedStart students (from specific Gear-Up Schools) for 2013 and beyond.
C. Support existing Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA) chapters and create new chapters
i)Provide support for HOSA students to participate in state and national events
ii)Link local healthcare organizations to HOSA programs in the community
iii)Increase post-secondary understanding of HOSA / Track number of HOSA chapters in MT / 2010-2011: 252 HOSA members
2011-2012: 209 HOSA members
2012-2013: 297 HOSA members
HOSA received a very significant funding increase through legislative appropriation in 2013. Previous funding was $4,500, current funding is $58,930.
HOSA state advisor is housed with the MT Hospital Association (MHA).
D. Provide credentials to high school students from health career programs and HOSA that relate to admissions into post-secondary education / Track student admission and acceptance of credentials from health career programs / Credentials are available for well-prepared high school students as Certified Nursing Assistants, Pharmacy Technicians and Emergency Medical Technicians. In particular, CNA credentials are a prerequisite for admission to nursing school at many programs in Montana.
E. Target outreach for health career programs and HOSA to Class C and Tribal High Schools
i)Teacher recruitment and training
ii)Specific curriculum materials suited to small schools
iii)Distance education delivery for small cohorts of students
iv)Travel and other financial support to allow students to participate in HOSA events / Track numbers of students admitted from Class C and Tribal high schools into health career programs
F. Provide academic and career exploration enrichment programs to students from rural and underserved populations through AHEC, health providers, HOSA and OPI
i)REACH (Research and Explore Awesome Careers in Healthcare) Camps – local short term camps that link students and local providers to explore careers
ii)Great Hospital Adventure – puppet shows for grade school students to explore health careers
iii)In a Box – anatomy curricula prepackaged to circulate among rural/underserved schools
iv)Hands on Health – at UM Spectrum Science Museum and traveling to small communities to explore the science of health
v)MedStart Summer Camps – summer camps for rural/underserved students on Montana post-secondary campuses to prepare them to enter health professions programs
vi)Pathways into Health – an annual brochure and poster describing all the post-secondary health professionals education/training programs in Montana State University
vii)Oral Career Pathways – a Pathways brochure and outreach program / Track number of students (from rural and under-served areas)
participating in programs / For 2012-2013 academic year:
REACH: 694 students
Great Hospital Adventure: 2906 students
In-a-Box: 1574 students
Hands-on-Health:
MedStart Camps: 141 students
Pathways brochure distribution: 10,000 copies (distributed to every high school guidance counselor)
Oral Health Careers Pathways distribution:
G. Support programs for American Indian students to explore and achieve success in health professions programs
i)American Indian Research Opportunities, the MSU Nursing Co-op (Caring for Our Own Program), American Indian Student Services, Salish Kootenai Nursing Program, Tribal College Pre-Health AA Degrees, Idea Network for BioScience Research Excellence – these are a sampling of existing partnerships and Tribal programs for continued support
ii)Develop additional collaborative programs and 2+2 programs that link Tribal Colleges and MUS campuses to provide health professions degrees / Track number of American Indian students enrolling in, and completing, health profession education programs (certificate, AD or baccalaureate / 3092 American Indian students participated in regional AHEC student activities in 2011-2012 academic year.
3) Support post-secondary health profession programs through adequate funding, faculty development, clinical sites, classroom resources, partnerships with healthcare organizations, and outreach to rural and underserved areas / Measures and Outcomes / Accomplishments
A. Provide the state with more comprehensive information about enrollments, graduates and employment of Montana health professions and career training programs / Publish reports on number of MUS healthcare graduates, how long from graduation to employment, wages, where do they work, etc. / MT Bureau of Research and Analysis completed initial research on MUS healthcare graduates for the statewide strategic plan (see plan at healthinfo.montana.edu). Plan for updated information in the near future. Also see reports at Economy-at-a Glance—Bureau of Research and Analysis, DOLI, January 2013 and September 2012 articles (Connell).
B. Provide onsite and distance education programs to provide health professionals with training to serve as faculty / Track number of faculty training programs provided / The WWAMI Big Sky Faculty Development Conference has been held for 3 years with the goal of training MT clinical preceptors. Continuing Education Units are offered. The conference has been well received and is intended to be an annual event. Sponsorships are solicited for funding. Participant support has also been offered through the AHEC.
C. Document the value of clinical education provided by health organizations in Montana / Develop and publish community specific clinical education impact reports
D. Document the economic impact of health professions and training to Montana communities, regions and the state / Develop and publish community specific healthcare provider impact reports / Economic Impact reports were completed for 19 Critical Access Hospitals (in association with the Research and Analysis Bureau—DOLI). 15 Economic Impact reports were completed specifically for Community Health Centers in Montana (through the MT Primary Care Association). Additionally, two Economy-at-a-Glance reports were written (through Research and Analysis Bureau) addressing healthcare workforce issues in MT.
E. Implement Montana StudentMax clinical coordination project to inventory existing clinical education, and coordinate new clinical training
opportunities in rural and underserved settings / Utilization of StudentMax tracking software for clinical training opportunities in rural and underserved settings / Although StudentMax offered potential tracking options for student training opportunities, the AHEC discontinued use of the program in 2011. At this time, there is no statewide, coordinated tracking option for all clinical training opportunities.
F. Strengthen partnerships with the Montana Department of Labor to pool resources for healthcare training in economically distressed areas
i)Funds for training
ii)“Stackable” credentials and pathways to degree programs
iii) Training partnerships / Track funding, training partner-ships and path-ways to degree programs developed in partnership with MT DOLI / MHWAC enjoys a long-standing relationship with the DOLI, SWIB and local workforce agencies. MHWAC has presented at several workforce conferences and meetings offering healthcare workforce information. We look to continue and expand our working relationship with newly appointed staffers in several state departments.
G. Develop regional strategies for delivery of training and education in rural/underserved areas through distance delivery and cohort programs / Track number of training programs offered via distance and cohort methods in
rural and under-served areas
H. Inventory classroom resources and technology resources needed to meet demand and keep Montana current with changing healthcare practices (HIT, simulation, new care technologies) / Share inventory of needs with stake-holders in education and healthcare facilities