title: Improving collection and use of interprofessional health workforce data: Progress and peril.
abstract: Policymakers and other stakeholders need robust data to understand how health care system changes affect the health care workforce and the care it provides, evaluate the effectiveness of health care finance and delivery innovations, and build an adequate supply of nurses and other health professionals to care for an aging and diverse population of patients. In 2011, the Institute of Medicine released a report that called for the creation of an infrastructure to collect and analyze interprofessional health workforce data and issued specific recommendations to reach that overarching goal.
  
  
  
  This paper examines progress toward each of the main data-related recommendations of the Institute of Medicine Committee on the Future of Nursing, and identifies strategies that can achieve further gains in health workforce data collection.
  
  
  
  Multiple documents and websites were reviewed to identify the extent to which each of the Institute of Medicine's recommendations have been implemented.
  
  
  
  There has been little progress toward the Institute of Medicine recommendations regarding data collection, with a few exceptions related to improvements in national data on ambulatory care. This can largely be attributed to a lack of funding.
  
  
  
  Although there are active and strong collaborative relationships across many key stakeholders, there have not been sufficient resources dedicated to ensuring that new programs advance. More leadership, advocacy, and resources will be needed to build the robust data infrastructure called for by the Institute of Medicine.
authors.affiliation: Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies and Healthforce Center, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA. Electronic address: joanne.spetz@ucsf.edu.
authors.forename: Joanne
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Spetz
authors.affiliation: Florida Blue Center for Health Care Quality, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA.
authors.forename: Jeannie P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Cimiotti
authors.affiliation: Florida Center for Nursing, Orlando, FL, USA.
authors.forename: Mary Lou
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Brunell
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003625:Data Collection / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006280:Health Workforce / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009726:Nurses / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000600:supply & distribution*; D009729:Nursing / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010559:Personnel Management / Q000379:methods*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States
keywords: Data; Nursing; Surveys; Workforce