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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

William Livingood, PhD¹, Susan Collini, MPH², Jeffrey Goldhagen, MD, MPH³, and Thomas Bryant, MSW². (1) Institute for Health, Policy and Evaluation Research & Pediatrics Department, Duval County Health Department & Univ of Florida, 900 University Blvd, Suite 604, Jacksonville, FL 32211, 904 665 2330, William_Livingood@doh.state.fl.us, (2) Institute for Health, Policy and Evaluation Research, Duval County Health Department, 900 University Blvd, Suite 604, Jacksonville, FL 32082, (3) Department of Pediatrics, University of Florida, 653-1 W. Eigth Street, Jacksonville, FL 32209

Local public health systems continue to be stressed by increasing demands and inadequate resources. The primary focus for “marketing” the importance of public health has been on the value of public health systems to the reduction of morbidity and mortality. The economic value and contribution of public health programs and systems to local economies has been largely ignored. To the contrary, enhancing these local public health structures is frequently viewed as an economic burden rather than an economic asset. This case study was designed to demonstrate how economic impact analysis can be used to demonstrate the economic value of local public health system's infrastructure as well as economic assets of an ”Academic Health Department” model. The study involved the secondary analysis of publicly available data on health department finances and employment using proprietary software specifically designed to assess economic impacts. The health department's impact on the local community was estimated at over 100 million dollars, exceeding the economic impact of other recently studied local industries. This value represents the crude economic benefits without estimating the indirect economic benefits from improved health. The Academic Health Department Model contributed to a substantial portion of the overall local health department's economic impact, enhancing the local public health system's capacity with no additional costs to local taxpayers. In this context the Academic Health Department Model can be viewed as an asset that should be supported and nurtured for both the public health and economic assets it brings to the local community.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant (learner) in this session will be able to

• Describe an approach to assessing the economic impact of local health department infrastructure.
• Recognize the potential economic value to local communities of academic-agency partnerships.

Keywords: Public Health Infrastructure, Economic Analysis

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered