Findings from Assessment
The goal of the Minnesota Public Health Cost and Capacity Assessment was to measure the public health system’s capacity to deliver the Minnesota Foundational Public Health Responsibilities (FPHRs). Overall, the assessment set up a baseline against which Minnesota can measure future progress towards achieving the shared vision of a seamless, responsive, and publically-supported public health system.
The top three takeaways from the assessment are:
As a whole, the state-local governmental public health system has partially implemented the foundational public health responsibilities noted above. When examining specific areas and capabilities more closely, we can see wide variation and gaps in capacity across the system (see figure), along with opportunities for exploration, innovation, and investment.
a. Gaps in specific capabilities: The entire state-local system was collectively least able to carry out activities in the capabilities of policy development, data and epidemiology, and health equity.
Opportunity for learning, innovation, investment: We can support learning and innovation in foundational responsibilities where the data shows the system has less capacity, and target investments.
b. Gap in capacity based on population: The data shows that health departments serving more than 100,000 people were more able to carry out foundational responsibilities.
Opportunity to learn what drives capacity: We can explore factors that may drive those departments’ capacity.
c. Gap in reporting roles and responsibilities: The assessment also illuminated discrepancies between state and local departments on implementation when reporting their data.
Opportunity to clarify roles and leverage local/state strengths: We can clarify roles and responsibilities in carrying out responsibilities, and leverage local and state strengths to best serve all Minnesotans.
At this time, the University of Minnesota estimates this additional cost to be $557 million per year across the entire system (this equates to an investment of approximately $100 per capita across the system; this per capita estimate is not the cost to be borne or required by individual departments). This is a point-in-time, planning-level estimate, in 2022 dollars. It does not account for investments made since the assessment was completed, nor efficiencies we anticipate continuing to discover through innovation projects and clarifying roles.
Summative Report and Other Products
Minnesota Public Health Cost and Capacity Health Systems: Summative Report (PDF)
Through the Minnesota Public Health Cost and Capacity Assessment, the University of Minnesota Center for Public Health Systems collected data from all of Minnesota local health departments and the Minnesota Department of Health to investigate the perceived implementation of the FPHRs by health departments, the human and financial resources directed toward the FPHRs, and what resources may be needed to fully implement FPHRs.
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Though the data was collected for a time period where there were substantial impacts to finances and services delivered due to COVID-19, valid findings were extracted to lay a foundation to aid the transformation of governmental public health in Minnesota. The report contains an executive summary, report body, and a suite of appendices to provide additional context and findings.
Dashboards for the Minnesota Public Health Cost and Capacity Assessment
As part of the assessment, CPHS developed numerous dashboards and associated videos to help others understand how to navigate the dashboards and interpret the data. The next section includes a list of videos that may aid public health practitioners in understanding each of the dashboards and interpreting findings included therein.
Statewide Findings Dashboard (opens in new window)
This series of dashboards provide visual representations of the results related to the Minnesota public health system on the whole. Each dashboard provides readers with the opportunity to examine the data from different perspectives and through different filters.
Individual Agency Findings Dashboard (opens in new window)
This series of dashboards provide visual representations of the results related to individual Minnesota health departments. Each dashboard provides readers with the opportunity to examine the data from different perspectives and through different filters.
Videos to Assist in Interpreting the Dashboards
This video introduces the Foundational Public Health Responsibilities model used in each of the dashboards, how to interpret the Icicle Chart in the statewide and individual agency dashboards, and includes examples and key takeaways for those data.
This video describes how agencies’ self-assessed expertise and capacity for Minnesota’s Foundational Public Health Responsibilities were analyzed and visualized in each of the dashboards.
This video describes how to interpret the data in the statewide and individual agency dashboards, which include different charts that represent the self-assessed expertise and capacity reported by agencies, as initially reported and where data were combined. Suggestions are also offered for how agencies can use the data to inform changes to policy and practice.
This video describes how agencies’ reported effort and expenditures for the current implementation and the needed implementation of the Foundational Public Health Responsibilities were analyzed and visualized in each of the dashboards.
This video describes how to interpret data in the statewide and individual agency dashboards, which include different charts that represent the effort and spending reported by agencies, as bar plots and scatter plots. Suggestions are also offered for how agencies can use the data to inform changes to policy and practice.
