The Impacts of Shortage Area Designations on Mortality

Spatial mismatch between patients and physicians constrains access to medical care and contributes to differential health outcomes. Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA) designations identify areas where there are too few primary care physicians to treat the local population. State and federal programs are used to incentivize an increase in primary care services for designated communities. Propensity score matching methods estimate the effect of county-level primary care HPSA designation on mortality. Designated counties experience an average three percent decline in overall mortality, a six percent decline in the cancer mortality rate and a 13% decline in the stroke mortality rate.