Alert

WASHINGTON D.C. – This week U.S. Senators Roy Blunt (Mo.) and Jack Reed (R.I.) introduced the Building a Health Care Workforce for the Future Act, which would help address workforce shortages in the health care industry by making it easier for students to pursue careers in health care.

“As our nation’s need for a strong health care workforce continues to grow, it’s important we invest in students looking to pursue a career in primary and secondary care,” said Blunt. “This bill will help curb workforce shortages by strengthening scholarship programs, increasing mentorship opportunities, and giving medical schools resources they need to improve competencies in priority areas so that underserved communities have access to timely, quality health care. I am glad to again work with my colleague Senator Reed on this issue and appreciate his efforts.”

In Missouri, there are many factors leading to a shortage in our health care workforce.  One reason is the increasing cost of medical, dental, and nursing school.  This bill would help ease that burden and allow students to pursue a career that will be extremely beneficial for our state and the nation.                                

Reed added, “We cannot afford to ignore the symptoms of an overburdened health care workforce any longer. With a projected shortage of health care providers on the horizon, this bipartisan legislation will help our health care workforce better meet the number of patients in need, particularly with regard to primary care providers and care in underserved areas. Expanding and improving access to care must be a top priority for Congress, and I am glad to be joined by Senator Blunt in calling for action before the problem gets worse. Investing in our health care workforce is good for public health as well as our economy.”

The Building a Health Care Workforce for the Future Act seeks to remove barriers students seeking a career in health care face by including:

• State Scholarship Programs. This bill expands on the success of the National Health Service Corps scholarship program by providing state funds for every dollar invested by the state in a scholarship program to help address health care workforce shortages in primary care and other areas as designated by the state and approved by the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

• Mentorship Opportunities for Medical Students. This bill would authorize grants to medical schools to increase mentorship opportunities for medical students who express interest in a primary care career upon matriculation through two programs: Developing Effective Primary Care Mentors and Improving Mentorship Opportunities for Medical Students.

• New Competencies. As the nation’s demographics and health care delivery system change, our health care workforce will face new challenges. This bill would authorize grants to medical schools to improve competencies in priority areas, including educational innovations in promoting the patient-centered medical home; integrating primary care and mental health and/or public health/prevention; cultural competency; team-based care; and other priorities.

• Documentation Requirements for Cognitive Service. Medicare requires physicians providing evaluation and management services to complete extensive documentation requirements. These requirements were designed before the prevalence of electronic records and impose a substantial administrative burden on physicians. This bill would direct the Institute of Medicine to conduct a study within three years that examines how such requirements could be modified for electronic records, analyzes whether the requirements are excessive and potentially detract from patient care, and provides recommendations for less burdensome alternatives.