Shortage Designation

Throughout the U.S., there are geographic areas, populations, and facilities with too few primary care, dental and mental health providers and services. In conjunction with State Primary Care Offices, HRSA determines which of these should be “shortage designations,” and are therefore eligible to receive certain federal resources. This page provides information on recent policy developments regarding shortage designations.

Helpful Resources

HRSA website on Shortage Designation Modernization Project

National Update to Auto-HPSA Scores

HRSA tentatively plans to update all auto-HPSA scores in its IT systems in late August 2019, with the stated goals of increasing consistency and transparency, and coming into compliance with statutory requirements. During the fall of 2019, health centers and PCOs will have an opportunity to submit supplement data and requests to HRSA via the HPSA portal, and on January 1, 2020, HRSA will publish updated scores for all auto-HPSAs. These materials provide information on these updates.

Next Steps in Auto-HPSA Update Process (as of September 2019)

HRSA FAQs on National Update of Auto-HPSAs and Online Portal (as of August 2019)

Recording of Nov. 1, 2018 NACHC Webinar on Changes on Auto-HPSAs

Slides from Nov. 1, 2018 NACHC Webinar on Changes to Auto-HPSAs

Updated NACHC FAQs re: Updates to Auto-HPSAs

Scoring Factors for Auto-HPSAs