Has Public Health embraced effective cost reduction techniques from the business environment?

NACCHO has conducted a series of surveys of local health departments nationwide to determine the impact of the economic recession on LHD's jobs, programs and budgets. The results of these surveys show that LHDs have experienced cuts to core funding resulting in job loss and negative impacts to essential public health services. LHD leaders are experiencing the difficulty of balancing ever expanding needs for all public health services with the reduction in funding which provides for those services.

The business environment literature has extensive information on techniques used by both non-profit and for profit industries to reduce costs and balance revenue and expenses. This session will highlight several of these techniques which include outsourcing/contracting, creative methods for staffing and benefits, supply chain methodology, administrative policies and the use of quality improvement tools for cost reduction. The session will also provide the results of a survey of all Kentucky local health departments with regard to the acceptance and current use of these effective cost reduction techniques.