Original Article

State Health Mapper: An Interactive, Web-Based Tool for Physician Workforce Planning, Recruitment, and Health Services Research

Authors: Denise D. Krause, PhD, MS

Abstract

Objectives: Health rankings in Mississippi are abysmal. Mississippi also has fewer physicians to serve its population compared with all other states. Many residents of this predominately rural state do not have access to healthcare providers. To better understand the demographics and distribution of the current health workforce in Mississippi, the main objective of the study was to design a Web-based, spatial, interactive application to visualize and explore the physician workforce.

Methods: A Web application was designed to assist in health workforce planning. Secondary datasets of licensure and population information were obtained, and live feeds from licensure systems are being established. Several technologies were used to develop an intuitive, user-friendly application. Custom programming was completed in JavaScript so the application could run on most platforms, including mobile devices.

Results: The application allows users to identify and query geographic locations of individual or aggregated physicians based on attributes included in the licensure data, to perform drive time or buffer analyses, and to explore sociodemographic population data by geographic area of choice. This Web-based application with analytical tools visually represents the physician workforce licensed in Mississippi and its attributes, and provides access to much-needed information for statewide health workforce planning and research.

Conclusions: The success of the application is not only based on the practicality of the tool but also on its ease of use. Feedback has been positive and has come from a wide variety of organizations across the state.

 

This content is limited to qualifying members.

Existing members, please login first

If you have an existing account please login now to access this article or view purchase options.

Purchase only this article ($25)

Create a free account, then purchase this article to download or access it online for 24 hours.

Purchase an SMJ online subscription ($75)

Create a free account, then purchase a subscription to get complete access to all articles for a full year.

Purchase a membership plan (fees vary)

Premium members can access all articles plus recieve many more benefits. View all membership plans and benefit packages.

References

1. United Health Foundation. America’s Health Rankings. http://www.americashealthrankings.org/MS. Published 2014. Accessed March 25, 2015.
 
2. Commission for the Commonwealth Fund. Aiming higher. Results from a state scorecard on health system performance. http://www.commonwealthfund.org/~/media/files/publications/fund-report/2009/oct/1326_mccarthy_aiming_higher_state_scorecard_2009_full_report_final_v2.pdf. Published 2009. Accessed September 21, 2015.
 
3. Association of American Medical Colleges Center for Workforce Studies. 2011 State Physician Workforce Data Book. https://www.aamc.org/download/263512/data/statedata2011.pdf. Published November 2011. Accessed March 25, 2015.
 
4. King AN, Krause DD. Characteristics of physicians practicing in urban, rural, and isolated areas of Mississippi. Paper presented at the AAMC Health Workforce Research Conference; April 30, 2015; Alexandria, VA.
 
5. University of Mississippi Medical Center. Office of Mississippi Physician Workforce. http://www.umc.edu/Education/Academic_Affairs/Outreach_Programs/Office_of_MS_Physician_Workforce/Office_of_Mississippi_Physician_Workforce_Home.aspx. Accessed August 24, 2015.
 
6. Krause D, Frate DA, May WL. Demographics and distribution of dentists in Mississippi: a dental work force study. J Am Dent Assoc 2005;136:668-677.
 
7. US Census Bureau. Data. http://www.census.gov/data.html. Accessed August 24, 2015.
 
8. US Census Bureau. American FactFinder. http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/nav/jsf/pages/index.xhtml. Accessed August 24, 2015.
 
9. Health Resources and Services Administration. HRSA data warehouse. http://datawarehouse.hrsa.gov/about/abouthdw.aspx. Accessed August 24, 2015.
 
10. Mississippi geospatial clearinghouse. http://www.gis.ms.gov/portal/download.aspx?dom=&x=1327&y=1061&browser=Netscape. Accessed August 24, 2015.
 
11. Mississippi Automated Resource Information System. Data dictionary (metadata). http://www.maris.state.ms.us/HTM/Data.html. Accessed August 24, 2015.
 
12. TIGER/Line Shapefiles and TIGER/Line Files. https://www.census.gov/geo/maps-data/data/tiger-line.html. Accessed August 24, 2015.