Health Care and Vision Health Workforce

HRSA projected the demand for primary care to grow due to what?

Aging and population growth

What does the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) collect?

• Median pay

• Entry-level education

• Work experience in a related occupation

• On-the-job training

• Number of jobs

• Job outlook

• Projected change in employment numbers

What was the conclusion of the RAND study?

If optometrists were the preferred primary eye care provides, ophthalmologists would be in excess. No excess of ophthalmologist if ophthalmologists are the preferred primary eye care provider.

What did the Abt study find?

• in 1995, majority of OD graduates were women

• most optometrist’s time is spend on direct patient care

• Older optometrists tend to work fewer hours

• Workforce supply and demand was found to be equal at time of study

• Ratio ranged from less than 9/100,000 to 15 optometrists/100,000 population

What does HRSA workforce assessments lack?

Vision care, so other assessments are necessary to determine the demand and need for vision care providers.

What is the difference between demand and need when studying the health care work force?

Demand is the utilization of health care services. Need is the level of pathology in the population that requires monitoring or medical treatment. Need includes those who are currently being treated and those who have a condition or disease who might benefit by management from a health care provider.