Indicator Metadata

Summary View
Detailed View

Name	Health Care Providers Employed in Direct Care by Type of Provider, Health Region and Jurisdiction
Short/Other Names	Health Care Providers in Direct Care by Health Region and Jurisdiction
Description	Number of health care providers employed in the profession and working in direct care, by type of provider, health region and jurisdiction
Interpretation	A measure of access to health care providers A low or high number may be desirable; interpretations should be evaluated alongside other relevant data (e.g., population need, models of care, mix of health care providers).
HSP Framework Dimension	Health System Inputs and Characteristics: Efficient allocation of resources
Areas of Need	Not applicable
Geographic Coverage	All provinces/territories
Reporting Level/Disaggregation	National, Province/Territory, Region, Provider; may be further aggregated by age, highest level of education, setting of employment, urban/rural/remote, etc.
Indicator Results	https://www.cihi.ca/en/health-workforce

Identifying Information

Name	Health Care Providers Employed in Direct Care by Type of Provider, Health Region and Jurisdiction
Short/Other Names	Health Care Providers in Direct Care by Health Region and Jurisdiction

Indicator Description and Calculation

Description	Number of health care providers employed in the profession and working in direct care, by type of provider, health region and jurisdiction
Calculation: Description	Number of health care providers employed in the profession and working in direct care in each health region and jurisdiction Unit of Analysis: Service provider
Calculation: Geographic Assignment	Place of service
Calculation: Type of Measurement	Number - Number; number of health care providers by health region or jurisdiction
Calculation: Adjustment Applied	None
Calculation: Method of Adjustment	Not applicable
Denominator	Description: None
Numerator	Description: Number of health care providers employed in the profession and working in direct care, by health region Inclusions: Active registered health care providers employed in the profession and working in direct care. Additional inclusion criteria vary by type of provider. Exclusions: Health care providers not employed in the profession. Health care providers employed in education, research and administration. Inactive registrants or health care providers who did not register in a Canadian province or territory. Additional exclusion criteria vary by type of provider.

Background, Interpretation and Benchmarks

Rationale	Based on World Health Organization (WHO) National Health Workforce Accounts indicator 1-12: Density of Active Health Workers in Different Regions (by Regional Typology, by Cadre), this indicator provides information on the number and distribution of health workers. Density can be calculated by dividing the number of health care providers employed in direct care by the population estimates; please see the CIHI indicator Health Care Providers Employed in Direct Care per 100,000 Population, by Health Region and Jurisdiction.
Interpretation	A measure of access to health care providers A low or high number may be desirable; interpretations should be evaluated alongside other relevant data (e.g., population need, models of care, mix of health care providers).
HSP Framework Dimension	Health System Inputs and Characteristics: Efficient allocation of resources
Areas of Need	Not applicable
Targets/Benchmarks	WHO: Health worker density multiplied by population estimates
References	World Health Organization. National Health Workforce Accounts: A Handbook. 2016. World Health Organization. Global Strategy on Health Resources for Health: Workforce 2030. 2016.

Availability of Data Sources and Results

Data Sources	HWDB
Available Data Years	Type of Year: First Available Year: 2009 Last Available Year: 2018
Geographic Coverage	All provinces/territories
Reporting Level/Disaggregation	National, Province/Territory, Region, Provider; may be further aggregated by age, highest level of education, setting of employment, urban/rural/remote, etc.

Result Updates

Update Frequency	Varies by type of provider
Indicator Results	Web Tool: Health workforce data tables URL: https://www.cihi.ca/en/health-workforce
Updates	Not applicable

Quality Statement

Caveats and Limitations

The methodology used to calculate population estimates may vary for different countries. Caution should be used when comparing results across countries.

Statistics reported may differ from those reported by other organizations due to differences in data collection and reporting methodologies.

Issues of under- and/or over-coverage may vary by type of provider.

Trending Issues

Assignment of postal codes to health regions can change over time.

Varies by type of provider

Comments

Please note that the available data years, geographic coverage, reporting level/disaggregation and update frequency vary by type of provider.

“Available data year” can refer to data year (for nurses) or to reporting year (for occupational therapists, physiotherapists and pharmacists).