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U.S. Allied Health Professions Face Shortage

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With steadily rising health care costs and the fact that more than 40 million Americans lack health insurance, the topic of health care is poised to receive a lot of attention in the next few years.

The U.S. population continues to expand while the 65 and older age group is growing rapidly. Concurrently, the demand for health care is expected to increase, but a question many in the industry ask is: Will there be enough personnel to furnish what is needed?

A significant part of the health work force comes under the general label “allied health.” In addition to physicians and nurses, much of the patient care occurring in hospitals is provided by allied health personnel. These professionals work not only in hospitals but also in a wide range of other health care settings.

Although a high proportion of all treatment furnished in a hospital is accompanied by medical laboratory tests, medical technologists who perform these procedures are experiencing a personnel shortage that is just as severe – if not worse than – the national nurse shortage, according to the Association of Schools of Allied Health Professions, also called ASAHP.

In some cases, the problem might stem from not having enough qualified applicants to gain admission to colleges and universities. For the seventh consecutive year, enrollment capacity has not been reached in several allied health programs, according to a recent ASAHP study of 87 member institutions.

For classes beginning in fall 2006, programs in 17 of 19 professions collectively experienced unfilled classroom seats. Even when there are more than enough qualified applicants, they may not all be admitted because there are not enough faculty to teach them. Compounding the problem is an aging work force, which may soon have its ranks depleted by retirements.

As a means of addressing these issues, ASAHP is working with several national organizations in the development of legislation in Congress known as S. 605, the Allied Health Reinvestment Act of 2007. This proposed bill is designed to produce a remedy for allied health work force problems.

If something isn’t done soon, the organization warns that there will be an alarming increase in adverse events affecting patients because of an inadequate supply of allied health caregivers.

For more information, visit www.asahp.org.

Courtesy: NewsUSA

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Tags:

allied health professions, ASAHP, Health, health professions, medical technologists, nurse, nurse shortage, Nursing, reinvestment act

 

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