In talking with our clients on their journey to accredited by the Public Health Accreditation Board(PHAB), they are often concerned about do they have enough people to undertake accreditation (capacity) and can we afford it (money)?
This past week, I attended the live launch presentation of the new Foundational Public Health Services (FPHS) Capacity and Cost Assessment, in collaboration with the University of Minnesota Center for Public Health Systems. This tool will support you in your health department in understanding your current spending and capacity towards the FPHS, and the needed investments to fully implement the FPHS.
What will the Assessment provide? The results.
The Assessment will provide you with an understanding of costs, expertise, and capacity toward the national FPHS framework (the foundation of Accreditation). Information from the Assessment can be used to:
determine how best to allocate resources to meet the needs of your community.
consider options to shift resources within your health department.
identify opportunities to share resources and/or services across agencies, and advocate for funding.
I want to take the Assessment. What’s next?
The assessment tool (Calculator) is an excel spreadsheet that will need both your finance and programming staff to complete. If you would like to access the tool, simply complete the form, and you can begin the transformative journey toward Accreditation. Important tips before your start to simplify the process and save you time –
The Calculator is designed for jurisdictions in decentralized states, serving populations less than 500,000.
Great news, you have options! You may complete the “basic” version with fewer inputs or the “advanced” option which is the most comprehensive based on where you are in your health department.
When completing the assessment, according to the presenters, it is important to go in order of the excel tabs, their algorithm depends on it!
The Calculator (2018) does not reflect any staffing changes that were made because of the COVID-10 pandemic or meant to attend to planning for surge capacity.