Public Health Financial Management Needs

Report of a National Survey

Public health finance is a complex field that requires accountability and transparency on the part of public health agencies. The need for these agencies, however, to answer to many funding sources creates more complexity. Communicating public health financial matters to the public requires a balance of technical accuracy and lay understanding. A national expert panel has developed public health financial competencies organized into three categories: (1) financial management, analysis and assessment; (2) policy development and program planning; and (3) administrative and general. The authors developed a survey for public health finance managers that asked them to indicate in which areas more training is necessary and how it should be delivered. A total of 112 complete responses were obtained across 30 states. The respondents identified several areas where training is highly important including:

  • understanding budgets
  • interpreting financial data and communication
  • assessing and correcting an organization’s financial status.

The officers demonstrated a high level of agreement that more training is required and that having competence in financial matters is critical to public accountability.


April Issue of Health Affairs Focuses on Patient Safety and Health Care Quality

  1. 1 The Ongoing Quality Improvement Journey
  2. 2 A Road Map for Improving the Performance of Performance Measures
  3. 3 The Trade-Off Among Quality, Quantity, and Cost
  4. 4 Global Trigger Tool' Shows that Adverse Events in Hospitals May be Ten Times Greater Than Previously Measured
  5. 5 Preventing Bloodstream Infections
  6. 6 Measuring the Performance of Individual Physicians by Collecting Data from Multiple Health Plans
  7. 7 Measuring Health Care Performance Now, Not Tomorrow
  8. 8 Despite Improved Quality of Care in the Veterans Affairs Health System, Racial Disparity Persists for Important Clinical Outcomes
  9. 9 The Importance of Transitional Care in Achieving Health Reform
  10. 10 An Early Status Report on the Beacon Communities' Plans for Transformation Via Health Information Technology
  11. 11 A Comparative Study of 11 Local Health Department Organizational Networks
  12. 12 Public Health Performance
  13. 13 A Self-Assessment Process for Accreditation Preparedness
  14. 14 Public Health Delivery Systems
  15. 15 Regionalization in Local Public Health Systems
  16. 16 Public Health Services and Systems Research
  17. 17 A Shot in the Rear, Not a Shot in the Dark
  18. 18 What Predicts Local Public Health Agency Performance Improvement?
  19. 19 Growth of a Scientific Community of Practice
  20. 20 Evolution of Coauthorship in Public Health Services and Systems Research
  21. 21 Resources that May Matter
  22. 22 Evidence Links Increases in Public Health Spending to Declines in Preventable Deaths
  23. 23 Public Health Financial Management Competencies
  24. 24 Decision Science
  25. 25 Public Health Financial Management Needs
  26. 26 Data-Driven Management Strategies in Public Health Collaboratives
  27. 27 Using Geographic Information Systems to Match Local Health Needs with Public Health Services and Programs
  28. 28 Public Health Systems and Services Research
  29. 29 Local Public Health Capacities to Address the Needs of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Populations
  30. 30 A Needs Assessment for Data and Methods in Public Health Systems Research
  31. 31 Mapping the Multidisciplinary Field of Public Health Services and Systems Research

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