Tennessee emergency medicine workforce, 2009

Area of Science:

• Emergency Medicine
• Healthcare Workforce Analysis

Background:

• The Tennessee (TN) Emergency Medicine (EM) workforce characteristics are not well-defined.
• Understanding the composition and distribution of EM providers is crucial for healthcare planning.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the demographic and training characteristics of the TN Emergency Medicine (EM) workforce.
• To compare TN's EM workforce data with national benchmarks.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional mail survey was conducted in January-April 2009 targeting non-government emergency departments (EDs) in TN.
• Data included physician training, ED volume, and mid-level provider employment.
• Rural EDs were analyzed using Rural-Urban Commuting Area Code (RUCA) criteria.

Main Results:

• Responses were received from 50 of 100 surveyed EDs; 53% were rural.
• Physician assistants (PAs) were more common than nurse practitioners (NPs).
• Most EM residency-trained physicians work in high-volume EDs (≥39,000 annual visits); rural EDs lack subspecialty physician availability.

Conclusions:

• Tennessee needs more emergency medicine residency training programs.
• Continued advanced training for family medicine physicians is essential, as they provide most rural emergency care.