Western Washington Area Health Education Center
2033 Sixth Avenue, Ste. 310
Seattle, WA 98121
Ph: 206.441.7137
Fax: 206.441.7158
Primary Care Provider Recruitment
Health
Professionals/
Student Placement
Volunteer/Retired
Providers Program
Statewide Office
of Rural Health
Community Health
Assessment, Planning
& Development
Primary Care
Provider Recruitment
Primary Care
Capacity Model
Washington Recruitment
Group
WWAHEC
2033 Sixth Avenue, Ste. 310
Seattle, WA 98121
Ph: 206.441.7137
Fax: 206.441.7158
Health
Professionals/
Student Placement
Volunteer/Retired
Providers Program
Statewide Office
of Rural Health
Community Health
Assessment, Planning
& Development
Primary Care
Provider Recruitment
Primary Care
Capacity Model
Washington Recruitment
Group
Understanding Primary Care Capacity
in Your Community
●
Geographic area census data by age group and gender
●
The number of providers in the same geographic area
You can download the Primary Care Capacity Model excel worksheets. If you have any problems downloading the file please e-mail Terry Tatko, Program Coordinator.
To read a description of the Primary Capacity Model, continue scrolling. To go directly to the instructions on completing your own Primary Capacity Model, click HERE.
The Western Washington Area Health Education Center has provided information to communities on what the capacity is of their community for supporting primary care providers. This information is included as an individual module in the "Measuring Economic Impact of the Health Sector" developed by Rural Health Works. Rural Health Works is a collaborative funded in part by the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy.
The module is referred to as the Primary Care Capacity Model and is helpful in determining primary care physician and midlevel recruitment and retention strategies. Understanding what an approximate capacity is for supporting primary care practices can help local hospitals, health departments, rural health clinics and community and migrant health centers make strategic decisions on recruitment of primary care providers. Having an understanding of whether a market is above or below capacity leads to a better understanding of market share and practice sustainability.
It was noted in the application of the model that certain assumptions are built in to the model and should be understood. This model assumes primary care productivity standards of 24 patient visits per day per provider or 4,976 annual visits. This is very similar to data referenced by the WWAMI Rural Health Research Center (working paper #45) whereby a full-time standard used to assign FTEs was 105 ambulatory visits a week, projecting at 48 weeks equals 5,040 visits.
Though this model has been built for primary care physicians, WWAHEC included mid-level providers due to the large number of rural health clinics that require mid-level providers. The WWAHEC counted mid-level providers at 75% FTE, citing a study from the UW Center for Workforce Studies (working paper #64, June 2001 - "The Contribution of Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants to Generalist Care in Underserved Areas of Washington State").
This model is based on a series of excel worksheets that provide templates with multipliers in place for the model from step two forward. The population statistics necessary for the model can be found on the Census 2000 website. It is important to include the population that is outside of the identified census site, i.e. unincorporated areas. These numbers must be proportioned by the age and gender categories identified in the worksheet template.
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Determine population statistics to be used in analysis.
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Using current census data, combine populations in groups into the six age defined categories provided in the worksheet. Gender percentages are provided in the census population and need to be applied to the age categories.
Step 2: Enter the population numbers based on age categories by gender in the 2nd worksheet that then creates # of visits by age and gender using a national standards multiplier.
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Based on the national standard of 62.2% visits as primary care visits; this creates the number for total # of primary care visits.
Step 3: Enter the total number of primary care visits into the 3rd worksheet in the cell for 100% market share. The worksheet calculates the number of primary care providers by incremental market share captured.
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Annual visits per year per FTE - This number is based on national standards. Verify the FTE status of current primary care providers in the market analysis geographic area.
Step 5: A template is provided to identify current primary care providers by FTE status and facility type in the geographic area being analyzed. This provides the study with an understanding of what the market area is currently supporting.
For additional information on the application of this model, please contact Western Washington AHEC.
You can download the Primary Care Capacity Model excel worksheets. If you have any problems downloading the file please e-mail Terry Tatko, Program Coordinator.
WWAHEC
2033 Sixth Avenue, Ste. 310
Seattle, WA 98121
Ph: 206.441.7137
Fax: 206.441.7158
or
Page updated 8/15/04