205175 Financial Ratios Help Public Health Agencies Identify Financial Trends and Opportunites for Improving Financail Performance

Tuesday, November 10, 2009: 3:10 PM

Cheryll Lesneski, DrPH , Public Health Leadership Program, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, CHapel Hill, NC
           
Developing and improving the field of finance for local public health agencies (LPHAs) is an important strategy for increasing resources and assuring efficiency of resource use in LPHAs. Using standardized financial ratios in combination with uniform practices for quantitative analysis of financial performance will help LPHAs with increasing accountability, financial transparency, and improvements in financial performance. This session introduces attendees to a set of financial ratios designed to:

• Track changes in financial condition;

• Identify emerging financial problems in time to take action;

• Identify existing problems that are not obvious to the agency's staff;

• Develop solutions to deal with identified problems;

• Project future funding needs; and

• Present a clear image of the agency's strengths and weaknesses for use with key stakeholders

Learning Objectives:
1. Explain the function of financial ratios 2. Identify the different types of financial ratios 3. Discuss how financail ratios can help Local Public Health Agencies increase accountability, transparency and performance improvment in the area of public health finance

Keywords: Fiscal Policy, Financing

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: The presenter served as a director of a local public ehalth agency and currently teachers in a school of public health and has written extensively on quality and financial and performance measurement in public health.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

See more of: Models for Successful Business and Financial Planning for Local Health Departments
See more of: Health Administration