NN/LM and Health Professional Shortage Areas

Posted by Molly Roberts on August 9th, 2016 Posted in: Consumer Health, NLM Resources, Outreach, Public Health

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I’d guess that many of our members are familiar with the term “underserved areas” in relation to a health professional shortage area (HPSA, the federal government loves acronyms). This term is used to describe a geographic area or population group that meets the criteria for having a shortage of primary medical care, dental or mental health providers.

But, it’s not just for communities out in the middle of nowhere! You may be surprised by how many HPSAs are in urban areas.

Why do these areas matter to the GMR office? I’m sure most of you have the mission of the NN/LM memorized – but for those who don’t, remember that the mission of the program is to provide all U.S. health professionals with equal access to biomedical information and improve the public’s access to information. Like many federal programs, there is an emphasis on services to underserved and underrepresented populations.

Also, a particular aim (Aim 7, for those of you who are counting) of our office is to:

“…implement outreach and education programs that reach health professionals in the Region with a focus on underserved health communities and health professionals that work in these medically challenging communities so that easy access to NLM resources can be obtained.”

We’ll be counting on creating partnerships with your communities to make this happen! The Health Resources and Services Administration (another acronym, HRSA) provides a great tool for identifying HPSAs in your local area. Give it a try and use this as a tool for generating some ideas for outreach in your communities: http://www.hrsa.gov/shortage/find.html

-Liz Kiscaden
Associate Director, NN/LM Greater Midwest Region