The Financial and Business Analysis Capacities of the State and Local Public Health Workforce

Objective: To assess the financial competencies and skills of the state and local public health workforce. Design: Analysis of the 2017 wave of the Public Health Workforce Interests and Needs Survey (PH WINS). Bivariate statistics and logistic regression models identified correlates and predictors of financial skills and skills gaps in the workforce. Setting: PH WINS was fielded to a nationally representative sample of all staff at all local health departments serving 25 000 or more persons and all state health agency staff. Participants: A total of 47 604 people responded to PH WINS in 2017 (overall response rate 48%). Main Outcome Measures: Financial competencies were measured in 3 areas: public health program and service delivery, public health agency funding, and public health agency business planning. Results: A moderate percentage of the state and local public health workforce (36.7%-40.6%) reported that financial skills were not applicable to their job. Skill levels tended to be modestly but significantly higher for the state health workforce than for the local health workforce. Correlates of financial proficiency and skills gaps varied for the 3 areas assessed and by state versus local setting. In general, administrators, managers and executives, older individuals, and persons working in decentralized or shared departments tended to have higher levels of financial skills proficiency. Persons working in clinical roles, supervisors, newer managers, and persons reporting higher levels of burnout were more likely to report a skills gap. Conclusions: There are areas of notable strengths in state and local public health workforce financial skills. Yet portions of the workforce that may have been subjected to newer financial training approaches did not consistently report higher financial skills. Findings suggest areas for further improvement in the financial competency of the state and local public health workforce.