PRISM Celebrates Ten Years of Informing and Informed Retention Collaboration

The Provider Retention and Information System Management (PRISM) program is celebrating ten years and growing in 2023!

To help celebrate this achievement, we’ve put together a timeline of PRISM’s start, growth, and achievements.

The idea to survey clinicians participating in loan repayment programs was hatched in late 2011 by Tom Rauner, the (now retired) Primary Care Office (PCO) Director for Nebraska, and Don Pathman, a researcher and family medicine physician (who himself participated in the NSHC Scholarship Program) at the University of North Carolina’s Sheps Center. 

A partnership was formed with 11 state Primary Care Offices; the Sheps Center; and the Foundation for Health Leadership and Innovation (FHLI), which acted as the fiscal intermediary and project coordinator.  States wanted to learn about clinicians’ experiences, how these obligated service programs are or are not working, and the results of efforts to retain providers where they are most needed.

What’s incredible about PRISM celebrating ten years is not only the data that has been collected and how states have used that data toward truly informing retention, but how so many organizations/people – truly too many for us to include in this timeline – contributed resources to ensure this important project kept going.

With this celebration, we share our sincerest thanks to every clinician who has participated in a PRISM survey over the years, as well as the many dedicated state, non-profit, and other employees who have had a part in keeping PRISM going and moving forward. Rural and underserved communities nationwide will continue to reap the benefits of your contributions to this project for years to come. 
 
Late 2011 

• The idea for PRISM hatched by Tom Rauner and Don Pathman.
• A partnership formed with 11 PCO states, Sheps Center and the Foundation for Health Leadership & Innovation (FHLI), which served as the fiscal intermediary and project coordinator.

2012

• The first survey with 11 states participating was launched.  
• Report. Findings of the First Year Retention Survey of the Multi-State/NSHC Retention Collaborative.

2013 

• PRISM’s longitudinal survey system was developed, and surveys started in July 2013.
• PRISM received funding from participating states and the FHLI through a subaward from the National Rural Health Association (NRHA).
• Iowa Computer Gurus, PRISM’s web development team, developed the PRISM user interface and Sheps developed the surveys and reports. 

2015

• PRISM implemented user fees and combined with NRHA funding for project sustainability.
• Partnering Around Data to Address Clinician Retention in Loan Repayment Programs:  The Multistate/NHSC Retention Collaborative published in The Journal of Rural Health

2016

• PRISM added an alumni report, which surveys clinicians who have completed their incentive program. This allows states to report on actual retention over time. 
• 17 states participating

2017

• A comparison report was added, which allows states to compare one incentive program against other incentive programs within their state and against incentive programs in other states participating in PRISM.
• 19 states participating

2018 

• 20 states participating

2019

• Satisfaction of the Primary Care, Mental Health, and Dental Health Clinicians of the National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment Program published in The Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved.
• 21 states participating

2020

• The program was successfully rebranded, changing the name from Practice Sights to PRISM
• HRSA funded COVID study utilizing PRISM data.

2021

• Transitioned PRISM program from FHLI to 3RNET.
• Overall Work and Practice Satisfaction of Licensed Clinical Social Workers in the National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment Program published in Health & Social Work
• Experiences of Safety-Net Practice Clinicians Participating in the National Health Service Corps During the COVID-19 Pandemic published in Public Health Reports.
• Report.  Supporting National Health Service Corps and Other Safety Net Clinicians Facing Personal and Professional Challenges due to COVID-19:  Recommendations to HRSA 

2022

• 29 states participating
• Tom Rauner retired
• J-1/Conrad 30 survey was added to PRISM 
• Outcomes of States’ Loan Repayment and Loan Forgiveness Programs from the Perspective of Safety Net Practice Administrators published in the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine.
• Moral distress among clinicians working in US safety net practices during the COVID-19 pandemic:  a mixed methods study published in BMJ Open.

2023 

• 35 states participating
• Report. Findings of the Conrad 30/J-1 Visa Waiver Physician Survey, 2022
• In partnership with the Behavioral Health Workforce Research Center housed at UNC Chapel Hill’s Sheps Center a study and paper on preparing behavioral health providers for success in rural and urban safety net practices is underway.