Are we getting the job done? TEACHING FINANCIAL

Transcript:Are we getting the job done? TEACHING FINANCIAL:
Are we getting the job done? TEACHING FINANCIAL COMPETENCIES FOR PUBLIC HEALTH Louis C. Gapenski, PhD Michael E. Morris, MPH, MPA, CPH Peggy A. Honoré, DHA This research was supported by a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation 1 AGENDA Research Context Research Findings Introduction, purpose, and approach Setting and workforce Finance competencies Current finance content Amount Topics Unique content requirement Recommendations Panelist Response Audience Response Conclusion 2 RESEARCH CONTEXT Today’s presentation is one part of an effort funded by RWJ to advance the practice of finance within the field of public health. Systems thinking perspective applied. Overall effort has four main thrusts: Improve strategic thinking and analysis Increase relationship building Improve public health systems organization Increase attention to new knowledge 3 RESEARCH CONTEXT The portion of the overall effort most relevant to the research presented today includes: Public Health Finance Institute Public health finance website Ratio analysis methodologies Ratio analysis benchmarks Sustainability (risk) index development Redesign of public health finance courses Development of finance teaching materials 4 INTRODUCTION Public health finance is defined as “acquiring, managing, and utilizing scarce resources to improve the health of populations.” As the scarcity of financial resources increases, the role of finance increases in importance. Evidence indicates that management as a whole is lacking in finance skills and tools. Academic institutions have a significant opportunity to contribute to workforce finance competency. 5 PURPOSE The purpose of our research is to: Assess the adequacy of current finance education in public health (primarily MPH) programs. Make recommendations for change. Note that academic programs address long-term knowledge needs and must be in concert with: Continuing professional development On-the-job training 6 APPROACH Identify the finance competencies required by public health managers. Review current educational program content. Ask this question: Does current content provide the KSAs necessary to meet the required competencies? If not, what should be done? 7 SETTING AND WORKFORCE Public health services are provided at the: National level. State level. Local level. Finance activities are carried out by both finance specialists and generalist managers. Most generalist managers are not trained in management but are professionals from other fields who have managerial responsibilities. Thus, finance education must span many disciplines and be broad in scope. 8 FINANCE COMPETENCIES Over the past 20 years several studies have been made to identify public health finance competencies. The most recent (and comprehensive) work was published last year by Honoré