These are common questions and answers related to the service area patient target.
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Overview
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How do you use the patient target?
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We are committed to ensuring continuity of primary health care services for patients who are currently being served within each service area. By publishing the patient target, we support fair competition and ensure that applicants are aware of the number of patients expected to be served in the service area.
(Updated: 6/20/2024)
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What is the difference between the patient target and my patient projection?
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The patient target is the number of patients that we expect to be served in the service area. We provide this number on the SAC Service Area Announcement Table when a service area is announced for competition.
The patient projection is the number of unduplicated Health Center Program patients an applicant commits to serving. You include this projection on Form 1A: General Information Worksheet (Service Area Competition (SAC) or New Access Point (NAP) applications) or the Patient Impact Form (supplemental funding applications).
(Updated: 6/20/2024)
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How do you calculate the patient target?
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For the fiscal year (FY) 2025 SAC, the patient target is the total number of patients reported in the 2023 Uniform Data System (UDS) by the currently funded health center for the service area.
For Health Center Program awardees that are scheduled to submit a FY 2025 Budget Period Progress Report (BPR), the patient target calculation remains the base value, plus patient projections from funded supplemental applications.
(Added: 6/20/2024)
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How can I view the patient target in the HRSA Electronic Handbooks (EHBs)?
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Only the Project Director (PD) and Authorizing Official (AO) associated with the Health Center Program (H80) award in EHBs can view the patient target, including its calculation values (see the Patient Target Calculation Overview table). The PD and AO can access the patient target in the H80 grant folder through the Patient Target Management link under the “Others” heading.
(Added: 6/20/2024)
Adjustments
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What if my patient projection is less than the patient target for my service area?
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You must propose to serve a minimum of 75 percent of the patient target to be eligible to apply for the service area. If your SAC application patient projection is lower than 95 percent of the patient target, you should reduce the federal request for funding according to the table below. If your application does not include the appropriate funding reduction, we will make it prior to your award.
Patient Projection Compared to Patient Target (%) Maximum Funding Request 95-100% of Patient Target No funding reduction 90-94.9% of Patient Target 1.2% funding reduction 85-89.9% of Patient Target 2.5% funding reduction 80-84.9% of Patient Target 3.7% funding reduction 75-79.9% of Patient Target 5% funding reduction Less than 75% of Patient Target Ineligible application (Added: 6/20/2024)
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I am an existing health center and have submitted a change in scope (CIS) request to add a new site. Will the new patient projections for this site be added to the patient target?
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No. The patient target will only include the total number of unduplicated patients that were reported in the 2023 UDS data for the service area.
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(Added: 6/20/2024)
Achievement
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What is the period for assessing patient target achievement?
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The measurement period for achievement is the calendar year following the SAC period of performance start date. The achievement date is December 31 of that year. For example, if you are awarded an FY 2025 SAC, the measurement period is calendar year 2026 and the achievement date is December 31, 2026.
(Updated: 6/20/2024)
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How do you measure patient target achievement?
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We use the UDS report (unduplicated number of patients served) to measure progress and patient target achievement.
(Added: 6/20/2024)
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What if my health center does not achieve the patient target by the required date?
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We monitor progress towards patient targets each year when UDS data is submitted. If a health center shows a downward three-year patient trend for two consecutive SAC periods of performance, we may reevaluate how we compete the area in the next SAC competition.
(Updated: 6/20/2024)