Thursday, August 11, 2022 | The Latest Research, Commentary, And News From Health Affairs
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A National Health Workforce
Expanding upon the work of Ann Nguyen and coauthors about New Jersey's COVID-19 Temporary Emergency Reciprocity Licensure Program, Brendan Carr and Nicholas Gavin explore the idea of a national health workforce.
The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated the challenge of responding to regional demands that moved in waves across the US. Additionally, caring for patients required a range of expertise.
Carr and Gavin write that interstate licensure could allow providers the flexibility that's needed to meet evolving needs.
"One potential benefit of a national or regional health workforce that is enabled by interstate licensure is that the capacity of any discipline where technology enables practice near top of a license can be fully leveraged wherever there is need," the authors write.
Despite the broad advantage of a national health workforce, Carr and Gavin warn of a potential downside: providers may be motivated to pursue more profitable opportunities, exacerbating contemporary disparities.
For now, the authors propose that policy makers "modify and align existing state-based systems" to prepare for future health emergencies and build trust between regulatory bodies.
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Today in Health Affairs Forefront, William Hsiao and Richard Scheffler discuss a recently released report from the Healthy California For All Commission that outlines key first steps the state must take to implement a single-payer or unified financing system.
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Bamboo Health 988
Implementation
988, the new three-digit dialing code routing callers to the Mental Health Crisis Lifeline, is live. States must comply with federal law and develop infrastructure to support their communities’ 988 services. Bamboo Health is here to be the partner state government leaders need to support that plan.
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