HRSA New Access Point: the shortage-designation + community-need data combination

The Strategy

HRSA's New Access Point (NAP) funding expands FQHC access points into underserved areas. Eligibility requires the proposed site to be in or serve a Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA) or Medically Underserved Area/Population (MUA/MUP). But eligibility is not competitiveness — many HPSA-designated applications are rejected because they don't demonstrate community need beyond the designation. The two-part data strategy: (1) the HPSA designation (from HRSA's data warehouse) establishes that the area has a federal shortage. (2) Your community-need data shows that the specific population you'll serve has unmet need that the designation doesn't capture — e.g., a specific cultural/linguistic community, a homeless population, a migrant farmworker population that existing providers don't reach. The community-need data sources: (1) your own community survey with methodology and sample size, (2) uninsured rate data from the American Community Survey, (3) ED utilization data for ambulatory-care-sensitive conditions (from your state hospital association or OSHPD/CIHI in California), (4) wait time data from existing providers (if patients…