The Bureau of Health Professions and its Role in HRSA

March 2012

HRSA’s Mission

To improve health and achieve health equity through access to quality services, a skilled health workforce and innovative programs.

HRSA’s Strategic Goals

Goal I: Improve Access to Quality Health Care and Services

Goal II:  Strengthen the Health Workforce

Goal III: Build healthy communities 

Goal IV: Improve health equity

Goal II: Strengthen the Health Workforce

Sub-goals1. Assure the health workforce is trained to provide high quality,

culturally and linguistically appropriate care.

2. Increase the number of practicing health care providers to address shortages, and develop ongoing strategies to monitor, forecast and meet long-term health workforce needs.

3. Align the composition and distribution of health care providers to best meet the needs of individuals, families and communities.

4. Assure a diverse health workforce.

5. Support the development of interdisciplinary health teams to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of care.

Authorizing Legislation

• Titles III, VII, and VIII of the Public Health Service Act– As amended by the Affordable Care Act,

Public Law 111-148

What does BHPr do?

Through grants, loans, and scholarships, BHPr works to… Encourage health providers to go into underserved

(shortage) areas; Identify where these shortage areas are; Strengthen primary care and provide incentives for

practicing primary care; and Analyze and provide information about the health

professions to inform policy-makers.

What does BHPr do? (cont.)

Manage four health professions advisory committees that make recommendations to the Secretary and the Congress about health workforce concerns• Advisory Committee on Interdisciplinary,

Community-Based Linkages (ACICBL)• Advisory Committee on Training in Primary Care

Medicine and Dentistry (ACTPCMD)• Council on Graduate Medical Education

(COGME)• National Advisory Committee on Nurse Education

and Practice (NACNEP)

What does BHPr do? (cont.)

Currently maintain two practitioner data banks that contain negative licensure actions, medical malpractice payment history, and adverse clinical privilege actions

ACA mandates that they be merged into one• National Practitioner Data Bank• Healthcare Integrity and Protection Databank

What does BHPr do? (cont.)

Ensure practitioners have current and appropriate skills through curriculum development and continuing education

Support residency training for pediatricians

Overall Strategies

Student support– Scholarships, loans, and traineeships to incentivize

and support students going into specific health professions experiencing shortages, such as primary care or public health.

Loan repayments– In BHPr, to support the development of faculty in key

areas (dental, and nursing faculty).

Overall Strategies

1. Increase Supply/Production

2. Improve Distribution

3. Increase Diversity

4. Assure Quality/Culturally Competent Care

5. Ongoing Analysis/Research/Data

Supply

Increasing the number of practicing health professionals to address shortages, with a

strong focus on primary care.

Encouraging health providers to go into underserved (shortage) areas.

Strengthening primary care and providing incentives for practicing primary care.

Primary Care Expansion Programs Funded with Affordable Care Act• Primary Care Residency Expansion Program Expansion of Physician

Assistant Training Program https://grants.hrsa.gov/webExternal/FundingOppDetails.asp?FundingCycleId=3767B451-D5DF-4F9B-9DB0-042B7AC575AA&ViewMode=EU&GoBack=&PrintMode=&OnlineAvailabilityFlag=True&pageNumber=1

• Advanced Nursing Education Program Expansion http://bhpr.hrsa.gov/nursing/grants/anee.html

Supply/Production

Training in General, Pediatric and Public Health Dentistry and Dental Hygiene Programs• Predoctoral, Postdoctoral, and Residency Training

http://bhpr.hrsa.gov/grants/dentistry/index.html

Public Health Workforce• Public Health Traineeships

http://bhpr.hrsa.gov/grants/publichealth/pht.html

• Preventive Medicine Residencieshttp://bhpr.hrsa.gov/grants/publichealth/pmr.html

Supply/Production

Advanced Nursing Education (http://bhpr.hrsa.gov/nursing/grants/ane.html)

• Training program infrastructure for primary care and other types of training

• AENT (http://bhpr.hrsa.gov/nursing/grants/aent.html) and NAT Traineeships (http://bhpr.hrsa.gov/nursing/grants/nat.html)

(tuition, fees, books, reasonable living expenses)• Faculty development

Nurse Faculty Loan Program (http://bhpr.hrsa.gov/nursing/grants/nflp.html)

Loans and loan cancellation in exchange for service as faculty.

Nurse Education, Practice, Quality and Retention Program(http://bhpr.hrsa.gov/nursing/grants/nepqr.html)

To meet current and future nursing workforce capacity needs.

Supply/Production

• Health Education Assistance Loans (http://bhpr.hrsa.gov/scholarshipsloans/heal/aboutheal.html)

-- a Federal loan insurance program that insures loans made by private lenders to students of diverse socio-economic backgrounds to pay for their health professions education. 

• Health Professions Student Loans (http://www.hrsa.gov/loanscholarships/loans/healthprofessions.html)

-- for students with financial need at accredited schools of dentistry, optometry, pharmacy, podiatric medicine, veterinary medicine.

• Loans for Disadvantaged Students (http://www.hrsa.gov/loanscholarships/loans/disadvantaged.html)

-- for students from disadvantaged backgrounds at accredited schools of allopathic or osteopathic medicine, dentistry, optometry, pharmacy, podiatric medicine, veterinary medicine.

Supply/Production

• Nursing Student Loans (http://www.hrsa.gov/loanscholarships/loans/nursing.html)

– for nursing students with financial need. • Primary Care Loans

(http://www.hrsa.gov/loanscholarships/loans/primarycare.html)

– for medical students with financial need and a commitment to primary care.

Dental Faculty Loan Repayment Program (

https://grants.hrsa.gov/webExternal/FundingOppDetails.asp?FundingCycleId=E19250E8-5D78-4BC4-AD87-3F5ECFB69AA2&ViewMode=EU&GoBack=&PrintMode=&OnlineAvailabilityFlag=&pageNumber=&version=&NC=&Popup=)

To encourage and support providers to practice in underserved areas, and support the development of dental faculty.

Supply/Production

Children’s Hospital GME Program(http://bhpr.hrsa.gov/grants/childrenshospitalgme/index.html)

Works with eligible hospitals to maintain GME programs to provide graduate training for physicians in children’s hospitals.

Nursing Assistant and Home Health Aide Program(http://bhpr.hrsa.gov/nursing/grants/nahha.html)

Training grants for nursing assistants and home health aides to meet the growing health care needs of the aging population. Ending in FY 2012.

Supply/Production

Personal and Home Care Aide State Training Program(http://bhpr.hrsa.gov/nursing/grants/phcast.html)

Supports States with the development and demonstration of core competency-based curricula to train individuals as qualified personal and home care aides. Ending in FY 2012.

State Primary Care Offices (http://bhpr.hrsa.gov/shortage/hpsas/primarycareoffices.html)

To assist State Primary Care Offices (PCO) in the coordination of activities within their state/U.S. Territory as it relates to the delivery of primary care services and the recruitment and retention of critical health care providers.

Supply/Production

Distribution

Aligning the composition and distribution of the health workforce to best meet the needs

of individuals, families and communities.

Improving the distribution of health professionals.

Distribution

Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education (THCGME) Payment Program(http://www.hrsa.gov/grants/apply/assistance/teachinghealthcenters/)

• Increases the primary care workforce and improves the distribution of the workforce in needed areas.

• THCGME payments support the costs of new and expanded resident and dental training in community-based ambulatory primary care settings, such as health centers.

Distribution

Nurse Managed Health Clinics (http://bhpr.hrsa.gov/nursing/grants/nmhc.html)

Provides comprehensive primary healthcare services, disease prevention, and health promotion in medically underserved areas for vulnerable populations and to enhance nursing practice by increasing the number of structured clinical training sites for undergraduate and graduate nursing students.

Area Health Education Centers (AHEC) Program (http://bhpr.hrsa.gov/grants/areahealtheducationcenters/index.html)

Supports training to improve primary care workforce development; distribution, diversity and quality of healthcare personnel; and the number of healthcare personnel working in rural and other underserved areas.

Diversity

Supporting the development of a workforce that is diverse like the population it serves.

Increase diversity by supporting underrepresented individuals’ entry into

health professions.

Centers of Excellence Program (http://bhpr.hrsa.gov/grants/diversity/coes.html)

This program recruits, trains and retains underrepresented minority students and faculty to increase the supply and underrepresented minorities in the health professions workforce.

Scholarships for Disadvantaged Students Program (http://www.hrsa.gov/loanscholarships/scholarships/disadvantaged.html)

This program works to increase the number of disadvantaged students who graduate and practice in primary care; the enrollment and retention of underrepresented minorities, and the number of graduates working in medically underserved communities.

Diversity

Health Careers Opportunity Program (HCOP) (https://grants.hrsa.gov/webExternal/FundingOppDetails.asp?FundingCycleId=E094A5D3-EF6A-4E0E-8D1D-4E6D4C79F99A&ViewMode=EU&GoBack=&PrintMode=&OnlineAvailabilityFlag=&pageNumber=&version=&NC=&Popup)

This program increases the diversity of the healthcare workforce by identifying, recruiting and selecting individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds for academic enhancement programs.

Nursing Workforce Diversity Program (http://bhpr.hrsa.gov/nursing/grants/nwd.html) Increases nursing education opportunities for individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds, including racial and ethnic minorities underrepresented among registered nurses to improve the diversity of healthcare.

Diversity

Quality/CompetenciesAssuring that the health workforce is trained to provide high quality, culturally competent care and that it is prepared to address the changing health needs of the population while also expanding interprofessional

team-based training.

Primary Care Training and Enhancement Program Strengthens medical education, increases the quantity, improves thequality, distribution and diversity of the healthcare workforce through:

• Primary Care Physician Assistant curriculum enhancement and training (https://grants.hrsa.gov/webExternal/FundingOppDetails.asp?FundingCycleId=26189833-09C1-4C6B-A290-C8F3B52680F4&ViewMode=EU&GoBack=&PrintMode=&OnlineAvailabilityFlag=&pageNumber=&version=&NC=&Popup=)

• Primary Care Academic Administrative Unit support and enhancement (https://grants.hrsa.gov/webExternal/FundingOppDetails.asp?FundingCycleId=92C0887B-DE05-431D-9550-16F9F1621A4F&ViewMode=EU&GoBack=&PrintMode=&OnlineAvailabilityFlag=&pageNumber=&version=&NC=&Popup=)

Quality/Competencies

Primary Care Training and Enhancement Program Strengthens medical education, increases the quantity, improves thequality, distribution and diversity of the healthcare workforce through:

• Primary Care curriculum development, education and practice in faculty development (https://grants.hrsa.gov/webExternal/FundingOppDetails.asp?FundingCycleId=92C0887B-DE05-431D-9550-16F9F1621A4F&ViewMode=EU&GoBack=&PrintMode=&OnlineAvailabilityFlag=&pageNumber=&version=&NC=&Popup=),

pre-doctoral (https://grants.hrsa.gov/webExternal/FundingOppDetails.asp?FundingCycleId=DAC6B821-4642-41B9-A028-92D507CDCA18&ViewMode=EU&GoBack=&PrintMode=&OnlineAvailabilityFlag=&pageNumber=&version=&NC=&Popup=)

and residency training (https://grants.hrsa.gov/webExternal/FundingOppDetails.asp?FundingCycleId=B4117D26-0903-499F-9A07-379790CA65AA&ViewMode=EU&GoBack=&PrintMode=&OnlineAvailabilityFlag=True&pageNumber=1)

Quality/Competencies

Primary Care Training and Enhancement Program Strengthens medical education, increases the quantity, improves thequality, distribution and diversity of the healthcare workforce through:

• Interdisciplinary and Interprofessional Graduate Joint Degree(https://grants.hrsa.gov/webexternal/FundingOppDetails.asp?FundingCycleId=456A7F11-5D17-4F63-A98D-52E0B56617B9&ViewMode=EU&GoBack=&PrintMode=&OnlineAvailabilityFlag=True&pageNumber=1)

Quality/Competencies

Geriatric Education Centers(https://grants.hrsa.gov/webExternal/FundingOppDetails.asp?FundingCycleId=F218CA5E-FBC6-46BC-BDA7-D94028370E55&ViewMode=EU&GoBack=&PrintMode=&OnlineAvailabilityFlag=&pageNumber=&version=&NC=&Popup)

Provides quality, interdisciplinary geriatric education and training to thehealth professions workforce, including both geriatric specialists andnon-specialists.

Geriatric Training for Physicians, Dentists, Behavioral/MentalHealth Professionals(https://grants.hrsa.gov/webexternal/FundingOppDetails.asp?FundingCycleId=63A7E2B1-2A30-47D9-9D5A-180E5ABA45BA&ViewMode=EU&GoBack=&PrintMode=&OnlineAvailabilityFlag=True&pageNumber=4)

Increases the supply of quality and culturally competent geriatric clinicalfaculty to retain mid-career faculty in geriatrics.

Quality/Competencies

Comprehensive Geriatric Education Program (https://grants.hrsa.gov/webexternal/FundingOppDetails.asp?FundingCycleId=460F6C6E-E472-483B-8844-C13823568A72&ViewMode=EU&GoBack=&PrintMode=&OnlineAvailabilityFlag=True&pageNumber=1)

Provides quality geriatric education and training to individuals caring for the elderly through developing and disseminating relevant curricula, providing continuing education, and providing traineeships for individuals preparing for advanced education nursing degrees in geriatric nursing, long term care, gero-psychology nursing or other nursing areas.

Geriatric Academic Career Awards (https://grants.hrsa.gov/webexternal/FundingOppDetails.asp?FundingCycleId=752BFB34-B024-493E-8E60-523619D93910&ViewMode=EU&GoBack=&PrintMode=&OnlineAvailabilityFlag=True&pageNumber=1)

Promotes the development of academic clinician educators in Geriatrics.

Quality/Competencies

Graduate Psychology Education Program (http://bhpr.hrsa.gov/grants/psychology/index.html) Supports graduate psychology education programs leading to a doctoral degree in clinical psychology or an equivalent interprofessional degree and trains doctorally-prepared psychologists to work with underserved populations.

Public Health Training Center Program (http://bhpr.hrsa.gov/grants/publichealth/phtc.html)

Supports the ongoing education of the current and future public health workforce, with emphasis on the existing public health workforce, to ensure competent practice by providing specialized training in public health focused on the technical, scientific, managerial and leadership competencies of the public health workforce.

Quality/Competencies

Analysis/Research/Data

Monitoring and forecasting workforce trends; developing the analysis that will support

policy and program development.

National Center for Health Workforce Analysis (NCHWA) (http://bhpr.hrsa.gov/healthworkforce/index.html)

NCHWA serves as a national resource on health workforce data to inform public and private sector investments in the health workforce through providing/developing research reports, workforce models, surveys, etc.

Health Workforce Information Center (HWIC) (http://www.hwic.org/)

Provides information relating to the health workforce that is accessible to policy makers, governmental agencies and the general public

State Healthcare Workforce Development Planning & Implementation GrantsThe program authorizes funds for States to plan and implement activities leading to health care workforce development strategies at the State and local levels. Ending in FY 2012.

Analysis/Research Data

State Oral Health Workforce Improvement Grant Program (https://grants.hrsa.gov/webexternal/FundingOppDetails.asp?FundingCycleId=C4135ADF-11A0-44D6-888E-8211D3352E56&ViewMode=EU&GoBack=&PrintMode=&OnlineAvailabilityFlag=True&pageNumber=1)

This program works with States to develop and implement innovative programs to address the dental workforce needs of designated dental health professional shortage areas in a manner that is appropriate to the State’s individual needs.

National Research Service Award for Primary Medical Care(https://grants.hrsa.gov/webExternal/FundingOppDetails.asp?FundingCycleId=38735F4A-6FA7-4A3D-878C-37D426A9A9C0&ViewMode=EU&GoBack=&PrintMode=&OnlineAvailabilityFlag=&pageNumber=&version=&NC=&Popup=)

Funds the development or enhancement of research training for individuals, selected by the institution, who are training for careers in primary medical care research.

Analysis/Research/Data