Healthcare assignment on Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSA) in the US

Question

Task: Identify a federally designated Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA) or Medically Underserved Area/Population (MUA/P). Describe the area, population, health conditions, and service shortfalls. What needs are most pressing? Identify any program or project designed to ameliorate the issue. Develop a healthcare assignmenton the topic and offer your analysis of the chosen program effectiveness.

Answer

Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA)
Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSA) is districts and segment bunches in the US that is impacted by an absence of health experts. There are three distinct kinds of HPSA designations, contingent upon the medical speciality that is encountering a deficiency: mental health, dental care, and primary healthcare. As per the healthcare assignmentthe primary variable used to assign an HPSA is the populace tohealth experts’ proportion, considering the significant need. Government regulations specify that a locale should have a specific populace-to-provider proportion to qualify as having a provider deficiency. Primary care should have a populace-to-provider proportion of something like 3,500 to 1.

In this healthcare assignment, the identified HPSA is in California. It is a federally designated HPSA.

Area considered for the healthcare assignment
An HPSA area is one where there aren't enough doctors to treat the area's high population. As per the healthcare assignmentfindings, the HRSA keeps an up-to-date list of medical shortage areas broken down by state on its website. California has around 622 primary care HPSA classes as of October 28, 2020 (Health Resources and Services Administration, 2022).

Population
The HPSA population is a term used to describe a region's dearth of healthcare providers for a particular population (e.g., migrant farm workers, and low-income). The population of designated HPSAs in California is 8,012,471 (Health Resources and Services Administration, 2022).

Health conditions discussed in the healthcare assignment
The lack of primary care physicians has detrimental effects on patients, communities, and the US as a whole (U.S.). as per the healthcare assignmentdata, there are currently 83 million Americans without access to enough primary care physicians, which is troubling given that this scenario is associated with unfavourable outcomes like increased hospitalization rates, decreased patient satisfaction with their health, and even higher mortality (Ferrante et al., 2013). Access to primary care is essential for improving population health, as well as for the treatment and prevention of chronic and acute disorders. Primary care has a well-established role in improving population health and minimizing health inequities, but it is not equally accessible across the country. As per the healthcare assignmentdata, there are around 7,000 health professional shortfall areas (HPSAs), which are places, communities, or establishments where there aren't enough primary care doctors to meet the demand (US Department of Health and Human Services, 2018). HRSA projected that more than 15,000 primary care physicians are needed to eradicate HPSAs.

Service shortfalls discussed in the healthcare assignment
In California, primary care physicians are becoming harder to find. Seven million Californians live in an HPSA, which is a federal designation for counties where there is a shortage of primary care, dentistry, or mental health providers, according to a recent evaluation by the California Healthcare Workforce Commission. As per the healthcare assignmentfindings, native Americans, African Americans, and Latinosmake up the majority of the population in areas where there is a medical shortage. The ageing population is predicted to make this deficit worse. It is anticipated that the population of people 65 and over will increase by 48%.By 2050, 19.5% of the population will be 65 or older. Population ageing is predicted to exacerbate the physician shortage because of the increase in healthcare demand. It is found in the healthcare assignmentthat by 2030, California is expected to have a lackof 4,100 primary care doctors if the present trends continue. Primary care physician demand in California is projected to increase by 12–17% over the current demand, while physician supply will also decline at the same time. There won't be 46,900 to 121,900 full-time doctors available by 2032 to meet demand (Bustamante, Martinez, & Anaya, 2019).

A University of California, San Francisco report from 2018 predicted that by 2028 there will be a 40% shortfall of psychologists and other therapists, even before the epidemic increased demand. Children are most affected by the shortage. As per the healthcare assignmentdata, almost 33% of California's 58 districts have no kid and young adult specialists, as indicated by the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. The Bay Area has a lot more authorized specialists and clinicians per 100,000 populace than the state midpoints of 12 and 44, as per a new report by the California Health Care Foundation. On the opposite finish of the range, the San Joaquin Valley has six specialists and sixteen clinicians for every 1,000 individuals(Wiener, 2022).

Medical staff hiring and retention are particularly challenging in areas where medical experts are scarce. Due to the poor income, long working hours, and multiple on-call shifts without cover, providers struggle in these areas. As per the healthcare assignmenta rise in patient volume may be difficult to manage in regions with a shortage of medical people, equipment, or expert networks. Along with limited salary, one of the main reasons providers provide for leaving HPSA areas is poor working conditions. Due to a lack of resources and increased workloads, providers working in HPSA practices may experience poor working conditions, which could lead to higher rates of burnout and job dissatisfaction (Schlak et al., 2022).

Most pressing needs
An expected 11,226,111 individuals in California live in a place that has a lack of primary care providers. As per the healthcare assignmentfindings, roughly 150,675 individuals are encountering homelessness and needing lodging, well-being, and social administration. It is critical to fill the well-being labour force holes across California to address these issues (California Health Care Foundation, 2020). This information represents the extent of the health workforce deficiencies around the state. Close to 33% of Californians are in a Primary Care HPSA, including individuals who are encountering homelessness — a significant number of whom have broad well-being needs. The individuals who reside on the roads die an average of 20 years sooner than individuals who are housed. Primary care suppliers (counting doctors, physical experts, nurses, and midwives) ought to foster supported associations with patients and practice concerning community and family. As per the healthcare assignmenthaving a standard essential consideration supplier is related to a higher probability of getting fitting consideration and lower mortality. Having more noteworthy admittance to primary care suppliers, everything being equal, can save lives.

Program or project designed for ameliorating the issue
Many programs have been designed to ameliorate the issue like the ones mentioned in the healthcare assignment:

• Steven M. Thompson Physician Corps Loan Repayment
The program urges recently authorized doctors to work in California. The doctors who have quite recently obtained their licenses are urged to work in California's HPSAs. The recompense of up to $105,000 in educational loans is conceivable under the program as a trade-off for at least three (3) long stretches of regular work at a pace of 40 hours the week.

• National Health Service Corps (NHSC) Loan Repayment Program
This program mentioned in the healthcare assignmentoffers advance reimbursement choices to authorized primary doctors who have acknowledged a work contract with an NHSC-endorsed office to help them to decrease or reimburse their obligation from their health professions education. The incentive will be given in one single instalment around nine days after the initiation of the service necessity term (Community Clinic Association of Los Angeles County, 2014).

• National Health Service Corps (NHSC):
This program mentioned in the healthcare assignmentgives grants for the training of well-being experts, especially primary specialists, in return for consent to work in regions approved by the National Health Service Corps. There is typically one year of obligatory service for each extended period of training support. The NHSC requires a least two-year commitment and offers up to four years of tax-free tuition, mandatory fees, and some other educational costs coverage. In addition, recipients receive a monthly living stipend that is taxed. Whenever they have finished their tutoring and residency preparation, they are supposed to start working at an NHSC practice area.

• Medical Education Debt (MED) Relief Program
This program mentioned in the healthcare assignmenthelps optimistic youthful specialists, dental specialists, optometrists, and drug specialists who need to commit their vocations to aid the ruined. The program offers awards to assist with credit reimbursement to permit late graduated well-being experts to acknowledge work locally centres in the areas of San Bernardino and Los Angeles while as yet having the option to reimburse their school loans (Community Clinic Association of Los Angeles County, 2014).

Analysis of the program effectiveness
As a result of these programs mentioned in the healthcare assignment, the physician pipeline for healthcare professionals is being expanded, patient-physician relationships are being strengthened locally, and more diverse young people are being encouraged to seek careers in medicine. California may set the bar for other states by developing similar initiatives that take into account the demographics of its population and alleviate the national physician shortage. These initiatives mentioned in the healthcare assignmentprovide URM (underrepresented minority) students with ways to overcome obstacles to academic success, which may greatly improve their chances of admission to California's medical schools. These initiatives seek to successfully recruit primary care providers to HPSAs in California. Since primary care providers are paid less than specialists and there are income gaps for some racial/ethnic groups, these programs take into account increased compensation, loan repayment policies, Latinos, and additional incentives to encourage primary care physicians to work in HPSAs of California. These programs build a strong, financially secure basis for the healthcare system that eases the administrative burden and advances wellness. As per the healthcare assignmentthis will keep residents in HPSAs once their residency training is finished. These programs assist HPSAs in California with underserved LEP (Limited-English Proficiency) populations in meeting their needs (Bustamante, Martinez, & Anaya, 2019).

References
Schlak, A. E., Poghosyan, L., Liu, J., Kueakomoldej, S., Bilazarian, A., Rosa, W. E., &Martsolf, G. (2022). The Association between Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA) Status, Work Environment, and Nurse Practitioner Burnout and Job Dissatisfaction. Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved, 33(2), 998-1016. doi: 10.1353/hpu.2022.0077
Community Clinic Association of Los Angeles County. (2014). A Guide to Loan Repayment and Scholarship Programs for Community Health Centers. https://ccalac.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/Recruitment-Resources-for-Community-Health-Centers.pdf
Bustamante, A. V., Martinez, L. E., & Anaya, Y. B. (2019). California’s Physician Shortage—White Paper. Los Angeles, CA: Latino Policy & Politics Initiative at the University of California Los Angeles. https://latino.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/LPPI-CPS-White-Paper-Design-Layout-reduced.pdf US Department of Health and Human Services. (2018). Shortage areas.
Ferrante, J. M., Lee, J. H., McCarthy, E. P., Fisher, K. J., Chen, R., Gonzalez, E. C., ... &Roetzheim, R. G. (2013). Primary care utilization and colorectal cancer incidence and mortality among medicare beneficiaries: a population-based, case–control study. Annals of internal medicine, 159(7), 437-446.doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-159-7-201310010-00003
Wiener, J. (2022). Unanswered cries: Why California faces a shortage of mental health workers. CBS8. https://www.cbs8.com/article/news/local/why-california-faces-a-shortage-of-mental-health-workers/509-a4f7c387-16c6-479f-872f-b02a86a1c311
Health Resources and Services Administration. (2022, September 30). Retrieved November 29, 2022, from file:///C:/Users/ranam/Downloads/BCD_HPSA_SCR50_Qtr_Smry.pdf
California Health Care Foundation. (2020). Retrieved November 29, 2022, from https://www.chcf.org/publication/shortchanged-health-workforce-gaps-california/#related-links-and-downloads