A. Manage New York’s Processing of Federal Health Professional Shortage Area, Maternity Care Health Professional Target Area and Medically Underserved Areas/Populations Applications The vendor will work with DOH staff in the Primary Care Office to manage the processing of federal primary care, mental health, and dental Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs), Maternity Care Health Professional Target Areas (MCTAs), primary care Medically Underserved Areas (MUAs), and Medically Underserved Populations (MUPs).The tasks associated with this project are as follows: Task 1: Collect, Verify, and Maintain Data Vendor will collect and validate physician and midwife practice information and update the Shortage Designation Management System. Vendor will identify providers who have retired, relocated, recently begun practicing in an area, or otherwise changed their practice hours using Internet searches, existing provider databases including but not limited to New York State licensure data, proprietary databases, and other publicly available data. This effort will also include contacting individual practices within potential or existing shortage areas to update the inventory of physicians in those practices and document their practice characteristics. Vendor will consult New York State Medicaid claims data, health care organizations, and individual providers to ensure that the most accurate data is available for shortage area designations. Vendor will identify Medicaid visits for individual providers, including but not limited to primary care physicians, psychiatrists, and general dentists. Visits will be limited to providers practicing in ambulatory care settings, including federally qualified health centers (FQHCs), hospital outpatient clinics, private physician offices, and other appropriate settings. Additionally, New York State Medicaid claims data will be used to identify individuals who are enrolled in Medicaid by geopolitical subdivision, including by county, minor civil division (city or township), and census tract. Vendor will update and verify, on an annual basis and more frequently as necessary, provider data in the Shortage Designation Management System (SDMS). Specifically, the vendor shall obtain, for all active physicians and dentists practicing in the state, information that documents their practice location(s), specialty, setting(s), practice hours, and other information as necessary to support shortage area designations. Staff will work with the New York State Office of Addiction Services and Supports to update and maintain substance abuse utilization data for mental health HPSAs and the New York State Department of Health to update and maintain fluoridation data for oral health HPSAs. Task 2: Assess and Submit Shortage Area Applications for Existing Designations Vendor will assess existing shortage area designations using updated provider and population information. In the first year of the contract in consultation with the New York State Department of Health, Primary Care Office, existing shortage area designations will be prioritized for review based on the date of the last designation and Department of Health program priorities. At the beginning of each subsequent year of the contract, vendor will review the initial prioritization and adjust as necessary. Additionally, existing shortage area designations will be reviewed as needed based on identified changes in the service delivery structure, i.e., hospital closures or mergers, provider retirements, or based on service obligated program commitments. Staff will communicate with contact persons listed for National Health Service Corps Active Sites, and any other stakeholders or providers identified in Task 6 below, on changes in status of their existing shortage area designation. Task 3: Identify, Assess, and Submit New Shortage Area Applications Vendor will examine areas that are not currently designated but are identified as high need and assess them for potential designation. Additionally, vendor will respond to stakeholder or provider requests for new designations on an as-needed basis. Vendor will communicate with stakeholders and providers on the progress of new shortage area applications. This task also includes communication with the Project Officer of Health Resources and Services Administration aimed to provide comprehensive explanations for the rationale used to develop every new HPSA applications, as well as providing evidence, documentation, and data as necessary to support those applications. Task 4: Work with the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision and the Office of Mental Health Vendor will work with the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) and the Office of Mental Health (OMH) to review updated data to ensure continuation of existing facility designations as appropriate and to identify new potential facility designations. As part of this work, vendor staff will provide DOCCS and OMH with current shortage area designation guidelines and other materials and data as applicable.
