Research Publications

Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (AANHPIs) are among the fastest-growing populations in the United States and are among the least likely to utilize behavioral health services. Organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area are utilizing unlicensed behavioral health…

Accelerated programs, clinical doctorates, and for-profit programs are growing trends in health professions education in California. These approaches are often cited as strategies to address workforce shortages, expand access to education, and improve quality of care. However, evidence across the…

For-profit educational institutions have been on the rise in recent decades in the United States. This brief reviews the literature on for-profit healthcare education programs nationally and analyzes the enrollment, tuition, and demographic characteristics of students in programs in California.…

For-profit educational institutions have been on the rise in recent decades in the United States. This appendix supports the issue brief that examines for-profit healthcare education programs nationally and analyzes the enrollment, tuition, and demographic characteristics of students in programs in…

This issue brief describes California’s current oral health care workforce configuration and explores its capacity to serve the state’s population, particularly Medi-Cal (i.e., Medicaid) enrollees, describes the oral health care services that are most provided to Medi-Cal enrollees, and examines a…

Oral health care remains one of the most unmet health care needs for Californians. This is particularly true for those enrolled in Medi-Cal, California’s Medicaid program, racial and ethnic minority populations, Tribal nation members, rural residents, and individuals with physical and developmental…

Demand for home health is growing. Registered and licensed practical/vocational nurses (RNs and LPN/LVNs) are integral to the provision of home health services, but a limited body of evidence suggests that the workforce is unstable and possibly shrinking. We assessed RNs’ and LPN/LVNs’ transitions…

Primary care is the foundation of California’s health care system and a critical driver of population health and equity. Yet access to timely, comprehensive primary care remains out of reach for millions of Californians.Delivering all recommended care to an average patient panel would require a…

Over the past few decades in the United States, clinical doctorates (also referred to as professional practice doctorates) have been created in multiple fields. This brief outlines the transition to clinical doctorates in four health care fields: audiology, nursing (including midwifery), physical…

Recent federal student loan policy changes have fundamentally altered the financial landscape for aspiring physicians and dentists. The "One Big Beautiful Bill" (H.R. 1) enacted in July 2025 introduced significant borrowing caps to educational loans that disproportionately impact students pursuing…

The need for skilled in-home nursing care is growing, but the home health nursing workforce faces challenges with job turnover, fueling the concern that the supply of these nurses will be inadequate to meet demand. This study compares rates and predictors of turnover among registered nurses working…

For 25 years, Healthforce Center at UCSF has led the development and success of the next generation of California’s health leaders. Through its most longstanding initiative — the CHCF Health Care Leadership Program, funded by the California Health Care Foundation — Healthforce has designed a…

California’s San Joaquin Valley faces a critical health workforce shortage that threatens access to care, particularly in its rural and low-income communities. This case study examines how locally led initiatives are addressing these shortages by building culturally responsive, regionally rooted…

Telehealth may redress rural health care shortages in the United States and improve related rural health disparities. However, following the expansion of telehealth related to the COVID-19 pandemic, telehealth use has been lower among rural populations compared to urban populations. Certain…

Telehealth may help ameliorate rural healthcare shortages and related negative health outcomes for rural populations in the United States. However, telehealth utilization has been lower among rural than urban populations. Patient experiences are an essential determinant of healthcare utilization…

People with dementia have complex medical, functional, and social needs and experience highly variable care quality and out- comes across the U.S. health care system. Community-based physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants serve crit- ical roles in diagnosing and managing dementia…

The evidence is clear: California needs a diverse health care workforce to meet the needs of an increasingly diverse population. This policy brief provides evidence-based policy recommendations. An accompanying issue brief explores what we know about the diversity of California’s licensed…

The evidence is clear: California needs a diverse health care workforce to meet the needs of an increasingly diverse population. This issue brief explores what we know about the diversity of California’s licensed health care workforce, what works to increase the diversity of health care…

Health workforce planning and development is a collaborative process requiring the engagement of multiple stakeholders with expertise across different domains, including health care systems, health professions training and education, and policymaking. This collaborative process also requires a…

Despite California’s population becoming increasingly diverse, the current health workforce has yet to reflect these demographic shifts; however, Nurse Practitioners (NPs) play a critical role in addressing gaps in primary care access across the state. In 2023, California implemented new…

This annotated bibliography aims to highlight seminal articles, reports, editorials, and other key pieces of literature that explore AI’s impact on the health workforce in a rapidly evolving landscape. It will be updated over time to reflect new developments.

Personal Care Aides (PCAs) play a vital role in the direct care workforce, providing essential support to older adults and individuals with disabilities or serious illnesses. PCAs, working alongside home health aides, make up the largest occupational group in the U.S. workforce, helping individuals…

California has a well-documented health workforce shortage, especially in rural areas. Accelerated education programs are one of the many approaches being employed to reduce shortages by shortening the educational pathway and increasing the production of qualified health care providers.This issue…

Improving access to midwifery care has been identified as a strategy to address shortages of reproductive health clinicians and ensure person-centered, equitable care. This article describes findings from a new survey of licensed midwives (LMs) in California, who enter the profession without a…

Standardizing and improving the treatment that Medicare beneficiaries living with dementia receive requires understanding the settings where they are receiving care, the types of clinicians providing that care, and whether clinicians recognize the diagnosis of dementia in their encounters with…

Each year, long-term acute care hospitals (LTACHs) care for over 70,000 individuals with complex and serious illness requiring prolonged inpatient care for weeks or months following a short-stay hospitalization. While LTACHs are most distinct from other post-acute care settings for their…

Physicians, especially in primary care, likely faced substantial revenue loss during the COVID-19 pandemic due to decreases in patient volume and deferred healthcare utilization. While studies have focused on projections and limited surveys, the impact of the pandemic on physician revenue is…

Highlights: The U.S. cesarean birth rate was 32.4% in 2023 and continues to increase each year. Avoiding morbidity and mortality risk associated with cesarean birth is critical. RN staffing during labor and birth is linked to cesarean rates. RN staffing aligned with national standards…

Background. American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN), Black (B), and Hispanic/Latino (H/L) people are underrepresented in dentistry, yet disproportionately constitute the safety-net dental workforce. We examined the relationship between serving as safety-net providers (SNPs) and self-reported income…