On Monday, California's Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development announced the launch of a new online database that provides information about the state's health care workforce, the Sacramento Business Journal reports.
About the Database
The Medical Board of California and the Employment Development Department provided information for the database, called the Healthcare Workforce Clearinghouse (Robertson, Sacramento Business Journal, 10/15).
According to a release from OSHPD, the database could help the state address a rising demand for health care services as the federal health reform law expands health insurance coverage to more Californians (Sisson, U-T San Diego, 10/15).
Information Included
The database includes:
- Figures on California health care providers by county and specialty;
- Projected annual health care job openings;
- Data on health care wages; and
- Information about educational programs to train health care workers (Sacramento Business Journal, 10/15).
The database also offers demographic information on the state's health care providers, such as age, ethnicity and gender (U-T San Diego, 10/15).
The database does not provide information about which counties are experiencing shortages of medical professionals (Sacramento Business Journal, 10/15).