Demographic Indicators

Demographic data were primarily taken from the American Community Survey (ACS) for 2010-2014 and is supplemented by New York State DOH information on the number of individuals who are Medicaid-eligible

• American Community Survey, Five-year Estimates

  The American Community Survey (ACS) five-year estimates are created by the United States Census Bureau and provide detailed social, economic, demographic and housing data for areas as small as census tracts.

  The ACS uses geographical units called Public Use Microdata Areas (PUMAs) for their geographic level of analysis. Although PUMAs are built on census tracts and counties, a single PUMA may contain parts of multiple counties or include several whole counties. The Census Bureau has a crosswalk that allocates the proportion of individuals within each PUMA that belong to each individual county. This crosswalk was used to report information gathered from ACS, ensuring that the correct proportion was assigned to each county.

  For this data guide, ACS data were used to report demographic indicators, including population by age, sex, race/ethnicity, population below 100% of the federal poverty level (FPL), median household income, and education and employment levels. ACS data were also used to identify the percentage of the population ages 18–64 without health insurance. The education levels and rates were calculated based on individuals ages 25 and older. All other calculations were based on the total population. Additionally, all information presented was based on place of residence.

  ACS data were also used to calculate the workforce employment information, including the number working in the individual employment sectors, percent of the occupation or profession ages 50 and over, percent female, and percent of underrepresented minorities (URMs), including individuals who are Hispanic/Latino, Black/African American, and Native Americans/Alaskan Natives. Please note that for a few occupations in certain regions, no ACS information was available due to small numbers, even though there were licensed professionals in those regions. Additionally, because of the low number of podiatrists in the ACS, their counts by county and by the different regions were taken from the Area Health Resource File (AHRF) for 2012–2013.

• Medicaid Eligibility and Expenditures by County

  The New York State DOH reports the number of individuals who are Medicaid eligible based on a determination by local social services departments by county or for New York City. These data were provided to New York’s DOH by the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance.

  Information about individuals who are Medicaid eligible is reported for each individual county, except for New York City where information is reported in aggregate for the city rather than for the individual five counties—Bronx, Kings (Brooklyn), New York (Manhattan), Queens and Richmond (Staten Island).

Health Professional Shortage Areas

• Health Resources and Services Administration Geospatial Data Warehouse

  The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Geospatial Data Warehouse (accessed July, 2014) provides information on the number of shortage areas by state and by county, including information on the geographic areas which are designated, the population underserved in the shortage area, and the number of providers needed to both remove the designation and provide adequate care for the population. These data were used to report the shortage areas for primary care, oral health and mental health services.

Beds

These data are reported at both the regional and county levels, and represent total available beds, regardless of the census at any given time. Number of beds is reported per 100,000 of the total population

• New York State DOH Health Facilities Information System

  The Health Facilities Information System (HFIS), accessed on January 22, 2014, provides information on beds and services throughout New York for hospitals and nursing homes.

• New York State Department of Health, Adult Care Facility Annual Census

  The Adult Care Facility data were used to report the number of beds in adult homes.

Education Programs

Graduation data for health care occupations were taken from a number of sources. In each case, graduations represent one year of data. These data were used only at the regional level.

• Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System

  The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) is a system of interrelated surveys conducted annually by the U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. IPEDS gathers information from every college, university, and technical and vocational institution that participates in the federal student financial aid programs. These data were used to report the counts of programs and total graduations for dental hygienists, licensed practical nurses, nurse practitioners, pharmacists, physician assistants and social workers.

• American Medical Association, GME Database

  The American Medical Association conducts an annual survey of graduate medical education programs, called the National GME Census. These data were used to report the education programs and graduations for medical residents

• Center for Health Workforce Studies, School of Public Health, University at Albany, SUNY

  Results of the 2013 survey of New York’s registered nursing (RN) education programs conducted by the NY Center for Health Workforce Studies (CHWS) were used to report the counts of programs and graduations of RNs for 2011–2012. Deans and directors of nursing education programs are surveyed annually by CHWS and asked questions about applications, admissions and RN graduations from their programs. Exclusively online RN education programs were not included in any regional totals but were counted in the statewide totals.

Health Occupations

Counts of individuals either practicing or licensed to practice in a profession were taken from two sources. These data are reported at both the regional and county levels. All rates are based on 100,000 population using the 2008–2012 ACS estimates.

• Center for Health Workforce Studies, School of Public Health, University at Albany, SUNY

  CHWS’s Physician Re-registration Survey database maintains a variety of information on the physician workforce, including age, race/ethnicity, practice status, practice specialty and practice location. Practice location was used to place a physician in a county and subsequently into a region. These data were used to report the counts of actively practicing physicians by subgroup and specialty at regional and county levels, as well as the percent female and the percent URM at the regional level. The data presented were a count of individuals (not the amount of time they practiced) and included all actively practicing physicians regardless of their setting

• State Education Department Licensure Data

  Data are available from the New York State Education Department (SED) about licensed health professionals. By law, SED licenses more than 25 health professions, and individuals must secure a New York license before practicing in one of these health professions. The address of the main office of the practitioner in the data base was used to place the practitioner in a county and subsequently into a region. Statewide licensure information includes all those licensed in New York, even if they live in another state. Licensure data were used for county estimates while the ACS is used for regional estimates.

  Licensure data in a health profession represents the upper limit of the number of individuals in New York who can practice in a profession. It is important to recognize the limitations of these data; chiefly that some individuals who are licensed in a health profession may be working less than full-time or not at all in the profession in the county or region where they are listed.