Examining public health financing in New York State: a methodology for evaluating local and national public health data.
Historically, there has been little national, standardized data collection on the financing of public health. In part this is due to the diverse way in which local public health is organized and funded. The lack of consistent financial data to adequately evaluate performance severely limits the ability of policy makers to set standards for improving quality. However, even in the absence of such data and analysis, policies have been established by local, state, and national governments to reduce public health funding, while at the same time, placing additional responsibilities on local public health. In an effort to understand fiscal trends for local health departments in New York State, the New York State Association of County Health Officials conducted a survey in December 2002 that collected data on spending and funding sources from calendar year 2000 to calendar year 2002. The survey instrument presents a model for state and local public health departments to evaluate their own resources/needs and to promote information exchange within and between localities. With limited resources, local public health officials must make difficult choices about their programs. By encouraging localities to collect uniform financial data sets, public health will be better suited to support its case for stable and sufficient funding.
Leviss
Perri S
PS
pleviss@earthlink.net
Novick
Lloyd F
LF
D003625:Data Collection / Q000379:methods; D005380:Financing, Government / Q000191:economics / Q000639:trends*; D006801:Humans; D018803:Models, Economic; D009518:New York; D011634:Public Health / Q000191:economics*; D011640:Public Policy; D040841:Resource Allocation