Otherwise, patient care is likely to suffer. Allied and auxiliary workers, which include over 200 professions and occupations, make up 60 percent of the country's 10.5 million-person health care workforce, according to the report. These workers are being affected more than other health professions by the changes in the health care system, however, their concerns and contributions are often overlooked by health care institutions, researchers, and policy makers, said Showstack. The report stresses that the future of the allied and auxiliary workforce depends on health care delivery organizations, workers, and educators and recommends that these groups build partnerships that will forge new approaches to education, retraining, job structuring, and career opportunities. These changes will be essential ingredients to ensuring that the health system is affordable and responsive to consumer needs, said Showstack.
Health care is a labor intensive effort.
The UCSF Center for the Health Professions seeks to assist health care professionals, health professions schools, health care delivery organizations, and public policy makers in responding to the challenges of educating and managing a health care workforce capable of improving the health and well being of people in their communities. The UCSF Center for the Health Professions is part of the UCSF Center for Health and Community, a multidisciplinary center which assesses the challenges of the changing health care delivery environment and identifies policies and interventions to maximize the beneficial impact of the changing health care delivery system. The Center for Health and Community is comprised of programs and individual faculty from all UCSF Schools who have been at the cutting edge of health services and policy-related research for many years, and includes basic social and behavioral scientists in epidemiology, health policy, anthropology, psychology, sociology, history, bioethics, economics, and clinical research. The California HealthCare Foundation, located in Oakland, is a nonprofit philanthropic organization whose mission is to expand access to affordable, quality health care for underserved individuals and communities and to promote fundamental improvements in the health status of the people of California. Copyright 1999 Regents of the University of California.