Health Professional Shortage Area Designations

The Center for Health Workforce Studies (CHWS), under contract with the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH), develops federally designated shortage area applications and provides technical assistance to organizations and other stakeholders on the designation process, current designation rules, service-obligated programs, and on other questions related to shortage designations. Part of this work includes updating provider data as necessary to ensure that the most accurate provider data is available for shortage designation analysis. In addition to shortage area designations, provider information is used by CHWS for understanding general access issues, state and local health care planning, placement of providers, and allocation of limited health care resources. It can also be used for research and health care reporting by state and local government.

Federally designated shortage areas include Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs), Medically Underserved Areas (MUAs), and Medically Underserved Populations (MUPs). These designations identify areas or facilities that have shortages of primary care, dental, and mental health providers, and are established under the US Public Health Service Act (Sections 330 and 332). CHWS staff works with both NYSDOH, Office of Primary Care and the US Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration, Shortage Designation Bureau on these designations.

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IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS OR NEED ASSISTANCE, CONTACT NAFIN HARUN AT NHARUN@ALBANY.EDU.