Public Health System Transformation in Minnesota
This project has now concluded. Have questions? Check out this page, review the FAQs, or email us at CPHS@umn.edu.
Background
The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the myriad challenges facing governmental public health across the U.S. While Minnesota’s nationally recognized state-local public health partnership has served Minnesotans well since it was established in 1976, Minnesota has not been immune to these challenges, facing increasing demands on decreasing resources, shifting the focus of public health to population-based activities, new health threats, disparities in health status among Minnesotans, and workforce challenges, just to name a few.
To address these challenges, the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH), the State Community Health Services Advisory Committee (SCHSAC; representing Community Health Boards [CHBs]), and the Local Public Health Association of Minnesota (LPHA; representing local public health departments), have partnered to transform its public health workforce and infrastructure to ensure it can meet 21st century population health needs.
Minnesota has joined other states at the cutting-edge of public health system transformation work, in efforts to implement a “minimum package of public health services,” which national groups have called for over the past ten years (you can read more here about this history). Minnesota’s minimum package” follows the Foundational Public Health Responsibilities (FPHR) model, which was initially developed in 2017-2019, and has been revised in 2022 in collaboration between staff from LHDs, MDH, and SCHSAC representatives.
As a first step to implementing FPHR, all of Minnesota’s governmental public health agencies will complete a Cost and Capacity Assessment to identify the current implementation of and spending on FPHR and the resources needed to fully implement and better understand how and by whom governmental public health services are delivered. The University of Minnesota Center for Public Health Systems is the Technical Assistance provider for the Minnesota Public Health Cost and Capacity Assessment, and will support staff filling out the assessment with whatever practical and technical challenges they encounter.
About Our Work
Minnesota Public Health Cost and Capacity Assessment
Please find pertinent news on the Cost and Capacity assessment in our Project Updates.
The Minnesota Public Health Cost and Capacity Assessment will give Minnesota’s governmental public health agencies a direct opportunity to comment on the current challenges of Minnesota’s governmental public health system and the resources needed to transform it. CPHS has been engaged to support data collection. MDH and all local health departments will complete this assessment to provide data on 1) their current implementation of, spending on, and staffing associated with the FPHR, and 2) anticipated spending and staffing associated with “full implementation” with the FPHR (i.e., what would it take to ‘fully deliver’ the FPHR in your jurisdiction if suitably resourced). Completion of this assessment is anticipated to require the participation of both agency finance and program staff. This assessment will occur with each LHD in the state, as well as across programmatic units in MDH. MDH and LHDs will need to identify a point of contact for the Assessment, who will be responsible for:
- acting as data collection liaison between their agency and UMN,
- managing timely data collection, and
- delegating and engaging with their agency’s staff.
UMN will provide technical assistance and direct support for participants throughout the Assessment (see below). Results will be available in Spring 2023 and will offer clarity on the current and needed capacities for public health in Minnesota.
Public Health System Network Analysis
CPHS will work with state, local, and private partners to conduct a network analysis on the Minnesota public health system to identify strengths and weaknesses present within the existing delivery paradigm, to include existing cross-jurisdictional delivery, without governance or service delivery optimization modeling. This network analysis will complement the Cost and Capacity Assessment to illustrate how services are delivered in communities across Minnesota. This activity is anticipated to be conducted in mid- to late fall 2022.
Assessment Timeline – 2022-23
- Week of July 25th: kick-off for data collection; distribution of Assessment Tool
- July-September: data collection activities for the Assessment
- Participants to collaborate with UMN for technical assistance
- September–October: data validation
- January 2023: initial Assessment results available for 2023 Legislature
- February-May 2023: detailed Assessment results available
CPHS staff will be providing technical assistance and support to aid participants completing the Cost and Capacity Assessment. We aim to provide Assessment participants with targeted and collaborative support according to your needs, including through one-on-one web conferencing to walk through the Assessment tool and health department information systems. We will offer group sessions and can also offer 1:1 sessions.
Please email us at CPHS-TA@umn.edu or schedule an appointment with our team.
We will update the FAQ periodically as new questions arrive, so please check back frequently. Each version of the document, available for download, will include a new version date to indicate that updates have occurred.
Guides and Instructional Documents for Cost and Capacity Assessment
- Assessment Questions and Survey Flow
Hardcopy version of Cost and Capacity Assessment tool - Operational Definitions Summary
Draft Minnesota Foundational Public Health Responsibilities framework - MN Cost and Capacity Assessment Tool User Guide
Guide that includes core questions from the Assessment and annotations that offer context and descriptions of what is needed
Supplemental Tools for Cost and Capacity Assessment
- Current Spending Allocation Workbook
Excel-based tool to assist in allocating FY 2021 staffing and spending to the FPHRs; CPHS staff can modify this to add program-specific tabs for complex financial arrangements, upon request - Full Implementation Estimate Workbook
Excel-based tool to assist in estimating anticipated staffing and spending for full implementation of the FPHRs; CPHS staff can modify this to add program-specific tabs for complex financial arrangements, upon request - Foundational Public Health Responsibilities Self-Assessment Workbook
Excel-based tool to assist with your community’s self-assessment of expertise and capacity, with tabs to accommodate and coordinate multiple perspectives
