Indian Health Service Programs—A Retention Analysis

This study expands upon the analysis of the National Health Service Corps (NHSC) begun in “Provider Retention in High Need Areas and continued in “The National Health Service Corps:  An Extended Analysis” by using the same techniques used in these earlier studies to examine retention patterns in Indian Health providers..  The study finds about 81% of the IHS program participants serve in the same I/T/U site one year after completion of their service obligation. Their retention in the same site where they practiced while in IHS service remains high in the following years: 75% after 2 years, 65% after 3 years, but drops in the 4th year after obligation completion to about 50%. Some of the IHS participants who stop serving in the same site after obligation completion move  to other I/T/U sites, such that the retention of IHS participants in any I/T/U site is, respectively: 90%, 87%, 85% and 76% in each of the 4 years after obligation completion. Retention of program participants is more likely to be higher in sites that offer a larger array of services,  and/or are located in more urban or more easily accessible areas.