Sept 27 -- The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), invites public comments by November 26, 2021 on the proposed criteria to determine maternity care health professional target areas (MCTAs) in existing primary care Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs).
Section 332 of the Public Health Service Act, 42 U.S.C. 254e, provides that HRSA shall designate HPSAs based on criteria established by regulation. HPSAs are defined in section 332 to include (1) urban and rural geographic areas which HRSA determines have shortages of health professionals, (2) population groups with such shortages, and (3) public or private medical facilities or other public facilities with such shortages. The required regulations setting forth the criteria for designating HPSAs are codified at 42 CFR part 5.
Section 332(k)(1) provides that HRSA shall identify shortages of maternity care services “within health professional shortage areas.” Section 332(k)(1) further requires HRSA to identify MCTAs and distribute maternity care health professionals within HPSAs using the MCTAs so identified. HRSA must also collect and publish data in the Federal Register comparing the availability and need of maternity care health services in HPSAs and must seek input from relevant provider organizations and other stakeholders.
HRSA sought input regarding MCTA scoring from relevant stakeholders via a Request for Information issued in May 2020. HRSA received 24 comments from a variety of stakeholders. HRSA has carefully reviewed and considered all of the feedback provided. HRSA proposes the following MCTA scoring criteria, which will be used to distribute certain currently eligible National Health Service Corps (NHSC) clinicians who provide maternity care services. This includes obstetrician gynecologists (OB/GYNs) and certified nurse midwives (CNMs).
Approach for Determining Maternity Care Health Professional Target Areas of Greatest Shortage
A MCTA score will be generated for each primary care HPSA using the HPSA's service area. The following six scoring criteria will be included in a composite scale that will be used to identify MCTAs with the greatest shortage of maternity care health professionals: (1) Ratio of females ages 15-44-to-full time equivalent maternity care health professional ratio; (2) percentage of females 15-44 with income at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL); (3) travel time and distance to the nearest provider location with access to comprehensive maternity care services; (4) fertility rate; (5) the Social Vulnerability Index; and (6) four maternal health indicators (pre-pregnancy obesity, pre-pregnancy diabetes, pre-pregnancy hypertension, and prenatal care initiation in the first trimester). Each of these six criteria will be assigned a relative weight based on the significance of that criteria relative to all the others.
The weighted scores will be summed to develop a composite MCTA score ranging from zero to 25, with 25 indicating the greatest need for maternity care health professionals in the MCTA. Accordingly, the higher the composite score, the higher the degree of need for maternity care health services.
FR notice inviting comments on proposed MCTA criteria:
https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/09/27/2021-20855/criteria-for-determining-maternity-care-health-professional-target-areas
