To the Census and Beyond: Using Data Sources Outside the Healthcare System to Inform Equity-Oriented Health Workforce Planning

The use of population-based data sources can offer healthcare planners and organizations insights on whether the health workforce reflects the sociodemographic diversity of the population it is meant to serve. However, sources outside the traditional boundaries of the healthcare system are typically underused in assessing health workforce imbalances to inform planning. This article offers a guide for health leaders on using national census data to monitor health workforce imbalances by geography, gender, and other equity-oriented characteristics. A case study illustrates how census data can provide standardized quantitative information on the oral health workforce, using various dissemination tools (online census tabulators and full census databanks) and methods (including linkages with other sources for enhanced cohort and ecological analyses). We also address practical issues such as the value of fostering academic partnerships to help navigate the analytics competencies and other requirements for using census products to support decisions.