Representation of Providers on Health Planning Boards

PL 93-641, The National Health Planning and Resources Development Act of 1974, called for broad representation of health care providers, in addition to consumers, on Health Systems Agency (HSA) governing boards. Analysis of data submitted to the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare by the HSAs indicates that HSA provider board members are not representative of the overall provider work force or general population. Direct providers outnumber indirect providers by roughly seven to one. Physicians and hospital-nursing administrators are overrepresented, and nurses and other provider groups underrepresented, in relation to their numbers in the work force. Evidence also shows that HSA provider board members are mostly white males, although nonwhites and females are significantly represented in the work force and population.