Marshall E C
School of Optometry, Indiana University, Bloomington, USA.
Optometry. 2000 May;71(5):301-17.
The Indiana Optometric Association and the Indiana Health Care Professional Development Commission identified a need to collect and analyze data on the health professions workforce for formulating goals and strategies to accommodate demands for health care services in Indiana. This study looks at the supply, distribution, and services of optometrists practicing in Indiana.
Data compiled by the Indiana State Department of Health, Indiana Health Care Development Commission, and the Project HOPE Center for Health Affairs were analyzed with the results of a survey of practitioner members of the Indiana Optometric Association. Supply, distribution, services, provider-to-population ratios, per capita demand, and optometric productivity were used to evaluate the current and future capacity of Indiana optometrists to the year 2010.
An estimated 893 optometrists practiced in 86 of 92 counties and comprised 77% of the state's licensed eye and vision care workforce in 1995. Optometric workforce capacity appeared to be related to county population, but unrelated to the urban/rural classification or the per-capita income of Indiana counties. Contact lenses, disease, geriatrics, and pediatrics were the most prevalent areas of practice specialty.
Optometrist capacity in Indiana is sufficient at both the state and county levels, and optometric services are appropriately distributed such that patient access to optometric care is geographically unburdened. Estimates regarding supply are elastic, depending on the assumptions applied.
印第安纳验光师协会和印第安纳医疗保健专业发展委员会发现有必要收集和分析医疗专业劳动力数据，以便制定目标和策略，以满足印第安纳州对医疗服务的需求。本研究着眼于在印第安纳州执业的验光师的供应、分布和服务情况。
对印第安纳州卫生部、印第安纳医疗保健发展委员会以及希望工程健康事务中心汇编的数据，与印第安纳验光师协会从业者成员的调查结果进行了分析。使用供应、分布、服务、提供者与人口比例、人均需求和验光师生产力来评估印第安纳州验光师到2010年的当前和未来能力。
估计有893名验光师在92个县中的86个县执业，占该州1995年持牌眼保健和视力保健劳动力的77%。验光师劳动力能力似乎与县人口有关，但与印第安纳州县的城乡分类或人均收入无关。隐形眼镜、疾病、老年医学和儿科学是最普遍的执业专业领域。
印第安纳州的验光师能力在州和县两级都足够，验光服务分布合理，患者在地理上能够轻松获得验光护理。关于供应的估计具有弹性，这取决于所采用的假设。
