HRSA Opens Portal for Late Provider Relief Fund Reporting

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) has opened the Provider Relief Fund (PRF) portal to allow late reporting from healthcare providers on how they used PRF payments.

The portal is open from November 14 to December 2, 2022, for providers authorized to submit a late report for reporting period 3. Providers who received PRF payments that totaled over $10,000 between January 1 and June 30, 2021, must submit a report.

Providers who did not report during an applicable reporting period could request an opportunity for late reporting due to extenuating circumstances. Providers could be authorized for late reporting for the following reasons:

• Experienced severe illness or death during the reporting period
• Impacted by a natural disaster
• Incorrect email or mailing address on file with HRSA, preventing them from receiving reporting instructions
• Failure to click “Submit” in the portal
• Internal miscommunication or error
• Incomplete targeted distribution payments

Providers cannot use the Request to Report Late Due to Extenuating Circumstances process to request an opportunity to make edits or adjustments to a report they already submitted, HRSA noted. In addition, submitting a request did not guarantee approval for providers to report late.

Providers authorized for late reporting must return unused funds to HRSA within 30 days of submitting a report, while providers who were not approved for a late report must return funds to HRSA immediately.

In order to request late reporting, providers had to register in the portal and submit a request detailing a clear explanation of their extenuating circumstances. HRSA notified providers if their request was approved or denied. Approved providers have ten business days from the notification date to submit a report through the PRF Reporting Portal.

HHS has distributed more than $23 billion in Phase 4 and American Rescue Plan Rural payments to providers. The department announced the Phase 4 payments in September 2021, with a plan to distribute a total of $25.5 billion—$8.5 billion from the American Rescue plan for rural providers and $17 billion in general PRF payments.

The funds aim to help healthcare providers prevent, prepare for, and respond to the COVID-19 pandemic by supporting patient care or assisting hospitals in recruiting and retaining staff members.

Workforce shortages have persisted since the beginning of the pandemic and have impacted almost all healthcare sectors. Recent data found that primary care physicians, in particular, have experienced high levels of stress and burnout during the pandemic, a driving factor of staffing shortages.