16 Workforce Recommendations to Deliver High-Quality Care for People With Serious Illness (Health Affairs)

Healthforce Center at UCSF Associate Director of Research Joanne Spetz, PhD, co-authored a blog in Health Affairs that includes 16 workforce recommendations for field experts, policy makers and health care leaders, to adopt to better meet the needs of an aging population and those dealing with...

After Some Hurdles, California Whole Person Care Pilots Hit Stride

The California Improvement Network (CIN), which is a project of the California Health Care Foundation and administered by Healthforce Center at UCSF, is a community of health care professionals dedicated to driving improvements in patient and provider experience and population health, while...

Victory: Governor Brown Signs Bill Expanding Scope of Practice for Medical Lab Technicians (MLTs)

Last week, California Governor Jerry Brown signed Assembly Bill 2281 into law, which expands MLT scope of practice. The new law’s provisions were informed by Healthforce Center at UCSF research and recommendations.

Boots on the Ground: Community Paramedics’ Experiences in the Field

Since 2015, the California Emergency Medical Services Authority (EMSA) has been testing the viability of asking paramedics to step outside of their traditional scope of practice. Known as Community Paramedicine (CP), or mobile integrated health (MIH-CP), this model of care aims to improve the...

The Newest Members of Your Care Team: Pharmacists

Lately, the rising cost of drug prices, the opioid crisis and the role of pharmacy benefit managers have dominated the headlines of pharmacy-related news. However, a slower moving, yet important, development is also taking place: the evolution of pharmacists’ roles and responsibilities. While the...

How One Man’s Road to Recovery Has Helped Others with Mental Illness

After losing his job in the corporate sector, Josh was homeless and in and out of jail for several years. “Until I had my diagnosis; I thought everyone heard voices,” he said. The realization that he had a mental illness made Josh take action. After seeking treatment, he volunteered for homeless...

The Lifeline the Long-Term Care Industry Can’t Afford to Ignore

The long-term care (LTC) industry faces a troubling landscape. The Wall Street Journal recently reported on the industry's financial crisis, which is largely due to actuarial analyses underestimating the number of claims that would be filed over a longer than expected lifetime of beneficiaries.

Slow But Steady: The Growing Numbers of Men Who Choose Nursing

CHCF Health Care Leadership Program fellow Sergio Camarillo, MBA, MS, RN, decided he wanted to be a physical therapist after he learned about the profession at a career day in high school. While taking prerequisite courses for physical therapy in college, he became friends with a man who planned a...

New Report Shows Rising Demand for Health Care Workers with Expertise in Long-term Care

Demand for health care professionals with expertise in long-term care (LTC) is rising, due to projected growth in the older population and the increasing burden of chronic disease. One way to meet this growing LTC workforce demand may be to employ more nurse practitioners (NPs) and/or physician...

Restrictive Policies (and Politics) Impede Nurses, Fail Patients

Healthforce Center Associate Director of Research Joanne Spetz, PhD, was interviewed for a nursing website (onlinefnpprograms.com) about her research on policies, politics and nursing practice that affect nursing leaders across the country. Below are excerpts from that conversation.