HPSA Overview

Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA) - An Overview 

The Washington State Department of Health Primary Care Office and the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration work to identify geographic areas, populations, and facilities experiencing a shortage of healthcare services.

 

HPSA Disciplines

  • Primary Care - MD's/DO's that practice in Family Medicine, General Practice, General Pediatrics, General Internal Medicine, General OB/GYN, and General Geriatrics Medicine

    • Maternal Care Target Area (MCTA) - Providers that practice in OB/GYN, Certified Nuse Midwives, and Licensed Midwives

  • Dental Care - Providers that practice in General or Pediatric Dentistry

  • Mental Health Care - MD's/DO's that practice in Adult Psychiatry or Adolescent/Child Psychiatry

HPSA Designations

  • ​​​​Geographic - A shortage of providers for an entire group of people within a defined geographic area. 

  • Population - A shortage of providers for a specific group of people within a defined geographic area (e.g., low-income, homeless or migrant farm worker).

  • Facility - A shortage of providers specific only to an individual organization (e.g., correctional facility, federally qualified health center, or public/non-profit facilities). 

 

Geographic area HPSAs, population HPSAs, and facility HPSAs are areas that can have a shortage of primary, dental, or mental healthcare providers. 

 

How do State Primary Care Offices (PCOs) help manage shortage designations?

Shortage Designation Process

 

FAQs

How do I request a re-score for my facility?

Requests for rescores are done through the Bureau of Health Workforce (BHW) portal. If you do not have access to the BHW portal, please email our office, HPSA@doh.wa.gov. 

How do I gain access to the Bureau of Health Workforce (BHW) Portal?

If you do not have access to the portal, please reach out to our office via email, HPSA@doh.wa.gov.

How do I know if I am located within a HPSA?

HRSA has created the HPSA Find website to help find data on the geographic, population, and facility HPSA designations throughout the United States. You can utilize this website to search HPSAs by location or HPSA ID. 

How do I find my HPSA score?

HRSA has created the HPSA Find website to help find data, such as HPSA scores, on geographic, population, and facility HPSA designations through the United States. You can utilize this website to search HPSAs by location or HPSA ID. 

How long does it take to get a HPSA designation?

In order to gain a HPSA designation our office must start by surveying the eligible providers within an area, which takes roughly 3-6 months to complete. We strive to achieve a response rate of at least 70% prior to starting the application process. Once started, the application process will take roughly 3-5 days to complete. Once the application is submitted to HRSA for review, it can take anywhere from four to five months before HRSA makes their determination and notifies our office, as well as any other interested parties. 

How long do HPSA designations last?

Designations are reevaluated every three years, based on the National Shortage Designation Update (NDSU) schedule. The NDSU takes place after up-to-date federal standardized datasets are uploaded into the database. The current designation will remain active until the new or updated designation is approved. This ensures that participants in both federal and state programs that require an active designation, can continue participating without any service obligation interruptions. 

What if my area is not re-designated?

If a designation cannot be renewed or reconstructed, it will remain in a proposed for withdraw status. The effective date of the withdraw will be the next publication of notice in the annual Federal Register. The Federal Register is the official federal listing of designated primary medical care, mental health, and dental health professional shortage areas. Some programs are not affected by the loss of a HPSA designation, and others will be. If you have additional question of if your program will be affected, please reach out to our office, HPSA@doh.wa.gov.