Executive Summary
The healthcare sector in the United States is facing shortage of healthcare providers, particularly in rural settings. One of the most affected areas in the country is rural Maryland, especially Allegany County, which has been selected as the location for this project. The proposed plan seeks to help lessen the shortage of healthcare providers in the county using MedChi, an organization that provides public health resources in Maryland. MedChi could help address the problem through promoting adoption of technologies like telemedicine and expansion of the scope of practice of non-physician providers. To realize this objective, the organization needs to establish partnerships with relevant stakeholders within and outside the county’s health sector including policymakers. These partnerships should focus on identifying necessary resources for implementation of the proposed solution.

Provider Shortage Proposal

Shortage of providers in healthcare is a major issue facing this industry at a time when patient populations have continued to increase globally. The shortage of providers in healthcare has dominated the healthcare industry over the past decade. This problem is attributable to various factors including increases in chronic diseases, increase in the health needs of the aging population, and inadequacy of education programs. Additionally, the increased recruitment of primary care physicians and specialty providers by healthcare organizations is an indicator of the severity of this problem. Given the widespread nature of the issue, healthcare organizations, policymakers and other stakeholders are looking for measures to address the shortage of providers in healthcare. This proposal examines the issue of shortage of healthcare providers and recommends a solution to address it.

Organization Information

The shortage of providers in healthcare is an issue that has affected the capability of healthcare organizations to provide timely and high-quality care to different patient populations. One of the areas affected by this issue is rural Maryland, which has a shortage of primary-care doctors. Desmon (2009) states that rural Maryland continues to experience shortage of healthcare providers given the lack of adequate primary-care doctors to establish practices in these areas. Consequently, many residents in these areas are forced to grapple with lack of access to basic healthcare resulting in more costly and serious illnesses.

The Maryland State Medical Society, which is commonly known as MedChi, is an organization that could help address the issue of shortage of healthcare providers in rural Maryland. MedChi, an affiliate of the American Medical Association, would help address this issue as part of its commitment to provide resources to the State’s physicians, patients, and public health. As the shortage of healthcare providers in rural Maryland continues to escalate, MedChi is facing challenges in addressing this problem. However, Merritt Hawkins provides recommendations that can be adopted by MedChi to address the problem of shortage of healthcare providers in rural Maryland. Merritt Hawkins is a national healthcare search and consulting organization that specializes in recruitment of physician leaders, physicians across all medical specialties, and advanced practitioners (Merritt Hawkins, 2019). Merritt Hawkins regularly conducts review of the recruitment of physicians in all kinds of medical specialties and advanced practitioners. Merritt Hawkins is an industry innovator and the largest healthcare staffing organization, which implies its better-placed to recommend or provide solutions to the current shortage of healthcare providers in rural Maryland.

Background on the Issue

One of the issues that has dominated many conversations in the healthcare sector in recent years is the shortage of providers. This issue has dominated public health discourse over the past decade given the increasing healthcare needs and demands among different patient populations. Existing trends in the healthcare sector demonstrate that the shortage of providers is increasing since healthcare organizations are recruiting specialty providers and primary care physicians at an increasing rate (Heath, 2019). Despite increase in the recruitment of such providers, these organizations are facing numerous challenges in their attempts to maintain a staff that meets the ever increasing patient care access needs.

Rural Maryland is one of the most affected areas facing the problem of shortage of providers in healthcare. Over the past decade, primary care doctors have found it difficult to establish their practices in these areas. Consequently, many patients in rural areas in Maryland struggle with lack of access to basic healthcare services resulting in more costly and serious illnesses. There are various reasons that have contributed to the shortage of healthcare providers in rural Maryland including reluctance to leave the city for the country. Additionally, providers in these areas are paid much less than their counterparts in the city and are forced to work more. Providers in Maryland also find it difficult to establish their practices in rural settings because of the fewer job opportunities for their spouses.

The shortage of providers in rural Maryland has attracted considerable attention from policymakers and other relevant stakeholders within and outside the health sector. These stakeholders have worked toward identifying short-term and long-term solutions to the problem. Some of the proposed solutions over...…proposals will take a duration of one year. Upon enactment of such regulations, the organization should partner with the Allegany College of Maryland and other nursing education institutions in the county to establish training programs that enhance the competencies of non-physician providers to offer healthcare services. The establishment of relevant educational programs to achieve this will take a period of 2 years. This should be combined with public awareness campaigns that seek to enhance the attractiveness of the educational programs to potential medical students during the 2-year period. MedChi should also partner with healthcare facilities in the county to identify relevant technologies to be adopted in the clinical setting. The partnerships should incorporate identification of necessary financial resources for these healthcare settings to purchase and utilize these technologies in their clinical settings/environment. This activity will be carried out for a period ranging between 6 months to one year. The required resources for the implementation of this proposed plan include technological equipment, financial resources for lawmaking and other processes, and educational and training resources.

Project Evaluation

A critical aspect toward determining the effectiveness of this proposed plan is examining the achievement of measurable outcomes. The evaluation process will be carried out periodically i.e. once every quarter after the implementation of the proposed solution. First, the evaluation will measure the number of providers before and after the implementation to determine the effectiveness of the proposal. Secondly, healthcare access data among patient populations in Allegany County will be collected and evaluated by comparing to the pre-implementation period. Third, data on health outcomes will be analyzed to help determine any improvements brought by the program. Therefore, data on any increases in the number of providers, improvements in healthcare access and improvements in health outcomes will be used to determine effectiveness.

In conclusion, shortage of healthcare providers remains a major issue facing the United States health industry, especially in rural areas. Allegany County, Maryland is one of the affected rural settings with this issue due to various factors including poor pay and difficulties in recruiting and retaining skilled workers. Given its role in enhancing public health outcomes in Maryland, MedChi could play a critical role in addressing the problem through partnerships with Allegany County’s public health department. In light of the issues facing the county’s health sector, MedChi should work toward promoting the adoption of new technologies like telemedicine and expansion of the scope of practice of non-physician providers.