October 31, 2025

The President’s Message is published in the MHA Weekly News Report, a member only publication of the Montana Hospital Association. To subscribe, click here.

MHA region meetings are in full swing for the fall. These meetings bring together our member CEOs in all five MHA regions across the state on topics timely to the membership and provide an opportunity to discuss priority issues in more detail.

A big topic at these meetings is the recent rescoring of Health Professional Shortage Area (or HPSA) scores. HPSA scores are the primary factor in securing federal financial support for strengthening the rural healthcare workforce, like qualifying as a National Health Service Corps (NHSC) site or the ability to participate in the Student Loan Repayment Program (SLRP). Both are critical programs to attract and retain providers in high-need rural areas that struggle to compete with more lucrative offers from larger facilities and more urban areas.

These programs are overseen at the state level by the Montana Primary Care Office (PCO). PCOs help ensure that communities have enough primary care providers, including physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, dentists, and mental health professionals. Their main focus is improving access to care for people who face barriers due to geography, income, or shortage of providers. PCOs are funded by the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) under the Bureau of Health Workforce.

HPSA scores are re-measured about every three years, though there is no set timeframe. The recent rescoring, released September 23, has reduced (and weakened) the score or proposed program withdrawal for many Montana sites and counties. The news is alarming to those rural and frontier facilities and providers who rely on the program. However, the Montana PCO notes, it’s important to recognize that HPSA rescoring is a process. The federal government takes the first step in rescoring, using an automated system comprised of only federal data points. The final scores require input of other state and local data. That’s where the PCO comes in. In other words, the process is not done.

The proactive outreach by the Montana PCO to our member CEOs is designed to engage all of you while there is room for revision and correction. Have a look at your scores. Have they changed? If so, reach out to Kate Miller at MontanaPCO@mt.gov to register your concerns and ask what information the PCO might need to accurately complete or rescore your local HPSA.

The PCO works with WIM Tracking to complete the state-led part of the rescoring. WIM Tracking may reach out to facilities to confirm some provider information to complete its verification process.

Updating HPSA scores manually is slow and will take a few months, but the Montana PCO is determined to ensure all sites and counties have improved HPSA scores. The Montana PCO will begin re-processing county scores by January. Please help the PCO help you by responding to WIM Tracking inquiries as soon as possible, and reaching out to the PCO if you have any questions or concerns.