Washington Health Workforce Frequently Asked Questions

This information will help promote your profession and help the state make good health policy decisions. It will allow us to identify potential disparities in access to care by Washingtonians, and then to work with others to promote policy and training initiatives to address those gaps.

This is an ongoing survey that we hope providers will complete when they renew their credentials. Implementing this as a rolling survey will help the department maintain the latest information on our state's health workforce.

No, for most professions. Allopathic physicians and physician assistants, and osteopathic physicians and physician assistants, are required to provide this information as part of their renewal. In addition, most questions within the survey are optional, so providers may skip questions they aren't comfortable answering.

The survey isn't anonymous. We'll ask for the healthcare provider's credential number and National Provider Identifier number, if applicable. However, the department will remove identifying information from the data shared on the Washington State Open Data Portal. Information collected via this survey may be subject to release in accordance with RCW 42.56 (Public Records Act).

Yes, each survey has profession-specific questions. Please complete a survey for each credential you're renewing.

The department will share de-identified responses via the Washington State Open Data Portal. We anticipate this information being used by Washington agencies, such as the Office of Financial Management and the Health Workforce Council, to analyze potential shortages of providers or to identify gaps in care, and then promoting policy and training initiatives to address those gaps. The survey results will be available mid-year 2017.

To take the survey, you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Please contact our customer service staff by email or call 360-236-4700.