Dive Brief:
-
The American Medical Association launched an improved version of its Health Workforce Mapper that the group says could improve patient access to care.
-
The tool provides population health data by geographic location, including factors like care quality, access to care, health behaviors and social environment factors.
-
AMA President Barbara McAneny said the updated tool will let providers pinpoint areas and populations that "could benefit most from their skills and services."
Dive Insight:
AMA said the population health portion of the tool lets providers view physicians in a county and overlay the patients and factors that influence health and access to care. The group enhanced its free tool with the help of the American Academy of Family Physicians' Robert Graham Center and HealthLandscape.
"Providers can use this information to help them determine where to locate or expand their practices to reach patients in greatest need of access to care," McAneny said.
The mapper tool uses AMA, CDC and CMS data to figure out health professional shortage areas, hospital locations and workforce trends. The tool also helps new doctors figure out gaps in patient care to see where their services are most needed.
It could also help with an expected physician shortage in the coming years. A recent Doctors Company report found that half of physicians may soon retire.
Health systems could also use the tool to figure out what areas need services, including whether to invest more in outpatient services in certain areas. It could additionally help payers and payer/provider collaborations improve population health efforts. That includes Medicare Advantage payers, which will now have the ability to customize plans with supplement benefits, including population health efforts.
Numerous studies have shown the influence social determinants of health play on someone's health status. U.S. News and the Aetna Foundation recently released a series of reports that found that socioeconomics play a bigger role in health outcomes than a person's race and ethnicity.
Providers, payers and community groups have looked for ways to bridge the wellness disparities. Being able to target areas with social needs and provider shortages are one way that this updated AMA tool may be able to help resolve some of those population health and access to care problems.