The Reporter: Oct 1994, Vol.5, No.3
HPSA Designation Reinstated

The Washington Heights-Inwood area received Health Professional Shortage Area status from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, starting Aug. 1.

The designation is important because it allows physicians who provide Medicare reimbursable services at Presbyterian Hospital or Allen Pavilion or services rendered in other approved census tracts to receive an incentive payment of 10 percent, according to Jay Wexler, assistant vice president and associate dean for clinical affairs administration. The designation also provides funding for a number of federal training and service initiatives.

"In preparing the petition for HPSA designation, we had to calculate the number of hours physicians work in northern Manhattan by specialty to create full-time equivalents. And then we had to examine how we were serving the population using government health care criteria," says Mr. Wexler, who worked with Presbyterian's planning office in the joint effort to obtain the HPSA designation. "The incentive system is devised to encourage physicians to practice in regions, such as Washington Heights, where the physician-to-patient ratio falls below government standards."

The HPSA designation is based on data indicating a resident civilian population of 193,683 served by 62.4 full-time equivalent primary care physicians, or a ratio of 3,104:1. This statistic is further complicated by a poverty rate of 29.8 percent, pointing to an unusually high need for primary medical care, according to the federal government.

"This designation will assist CPMC in its continuing efforts to meet the significant medical needs of the community we are dedicated to serve," says Dr. Herbert Pardes, vice president and dean.