HRSA Notice: Updating Of The Scoring Criteria For Determining Mental Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSA) Of Greatest Need

In this notice dated January 2015, the federal Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) updated its criteria for the professionals to population ratio used in determining mental health Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs). HRSA bases its calculations on the number of core mental health professionals, which includes psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, clinical social workers, psychiatric nurse specialists, and marriage and family therapists located within a 40 minute travel distance of each geographic catchment area. HRSA calculates a separate ratio for psychiatrists per population . . .