Project Background
It is essential that the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Bureau of Primary Health Care (BPHC), and health center organizations have access to tools and data that can assist in evaluating the geographic reach, penetration, and growth of the Section 330-funded Health Center Program (HCP) and its relationship to other federally-linked health resources. As such, HRSA, John Snow, Inc. and the American Academy of Family Physicians have collaborated to develop a mapping and decision-support tool driven primarily from data within the Uniform Data System (UDS), previously not publicly accessible at the local level.
The UDS Mapper is designed to help inform users about the current geographic extent of U.S. federal (Section 330) Health Center Program (HCP) awardees and look-alikes, and was largely designed upon algorithms and reporting methods developed by John Snow, Inc. for BPHC-requested service area analyses. The information available in the UDS Mapper includes estimates of the collective service area of these health centers by ZCTA, including the ratio of HCP awardee and look-alike patients reported in the Uniform Data System (UDS) to the target population, the change in the number of those reported patients over time, and an estimate of those in the target population that remain unserved by HCP awardees and look-alikes reporting data to the UDS (but may be served by other providers). Due to data limitations, this tool is meant to be only one of many important resources available for exploring the extent of health centers. To inform additional exploration, users can also map U.S. Census data and see the locations of all HCP awardees and look-alikes and their service delivery sites, locations of other federally-linked providers (NHSC Sites, Rural Health Clinics, Tribal Organization Facilities, etc.), and shortage areas such as Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs) and Medically Underserved Areas/Populations (MUA/Ps).
Targeted Users
- HRSA project officers
- Primary Care Associations and State Primary Care Offices
- Health Center Program awardees and look-alikes
- Prospective Health Center Program awardees and look-alikes
- Other policy makers and planners (state and local)
- Staff from other types of health centers