Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 9, September 20, 2024
A. The
Health Manpower Training Act of 1972 defined allied health professions in the
following manner: "Allied health professions are those with training and
responsibilities for supporting and complementing or supplementing the
professional functions of physicians, dentists and other health professionals
in the delivery of health care to patients; or, assisting environmental
engineers and other personnel in environmental health control and preventive
medicine activities."
B. 1978 Board
of Regents Study
1. A study released by the
Louisiana Board of Regents in 1978 included the areas of Dental Hygiene,
Occupational Therapy, Medical Records Administration, Health and Hospital
Administration, Physical Therapy, Medical Technology, Cytotechnology,
Dietetics, Radiologic Technology and Respiratory Care Technology within the
allied health field. The Louisiana Office of Licensing and Regulation has also
included Pharmacy and Social Work within this field for classification
purposes.
2. In the Louisiana Board
of Regents' 1978 study, Louisiana was reported to have no serious shortages in
the area of allied health professionals. The study indicated that although some
small rural hospitals and state hospitals did have problems in recruiting
personnel, these were mainly due to conditions within the institutions (e.g.
low pay, location, etc.) rather than a shortage of manpower supply. A spokesman
for the Board of Regents provided a verbal update to this report in March,
1982, and suggested that the satisfactory rating in terms of allied health
manpower supply in Louisiana may be reversing itself. Particularly in the areas
of medical technology and physical therapy, the state appears now to be
experiencing serious manpower shortages.
3. There is very little hard data available
on which to base an analysis of allied health manpower resources. In 1978 the
Louisiana Board of Regents recommended that the state maintain a registry of
allied health personnel in order to build an adequate data base for manpower
planning purposes. A spokesman for the Board of Regents reports that this has
not yet been done. Any accurate assessment of allied health manpower in the
state will be impossible until this data base is developed.
C. Resource Goals
1. Until statistical data becomes available,
analysis or planning for the manpower supply in allied health cannot be
accurate. The state may now be in the early stages of experiencing serious
shortages of allied health professionals. It is recommended that the state
begin registration of its allied health professionals so that a data base can
be built and appropriate recruitment and training initiatives taken to maintain
an adequate supply of allied health manpower. Available indicators of manpower
supply need to be analyzed, however, so that preliminary projections can be
made of need and supply of allied health professionals.
AUTHORITY NOTE:
Promulgated in accordance with P.L. 93-641 as amended by P. L. 96-79, and
R.S.
36:256(b).
