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Developing cancer control capacity in state and local public health agencies.

In 1986, the National Cancer Institute began a major grant program to enhance the technical capabilities of public health departments in cancer prevention and control. This effort, commonly referred to as "capacity building" for cancer control, provided funding to support eight State and one local health department. The program focused on developing the knowledge and skills of health department personnel to implement intervention programs in such areas as smoking cessation, diet modification, and breast and cervical cancer screening. The grants ranged from 2 to 5 years in length, with funding of $125,000 to $1.6 million per grant. The total for the program was $7.4 million. While the priorities set for these grants were nominally similar, their capacity building activities in cancer prevention and control evolved into unique interventions reflecting the individual needs and priorities of each State or locality. Their experiences illustrate that technical development for planning, implementing, and evaluating cancer prevention and control programs is a complex process that must occur at multiple levels, regardless of overall approach. Factors found to contribute to successful implementation of technical development programs include* commitment of the organization's leadership to provide adequate support for staff and activities and to keep cancer prevention and control on the organizational agenda,* the existence of appropriate data to monitor and evaluate programs,* appropriately trained staff,* building linkages with State and community agencies and coalitions to guide community action,* an established plan or process for achieving cancer control objectives,* access to the advice of and participation of individual cancer and health experts,* an informed State legislature,* diffusion of cancer prevention and control efforts,and* the ability to obtain funds needed for future activities.

Community Participation

An automated medical record system, 10 years later.

An automated medical record system (AMRS) at the Harvard Community Health Plan supports medical records membership and the management needs of the 146,000-member health maintenance organization. The ARMS is fully integrated into the operation of HCHP's health centers and into the clinical practice of the medical staff. User interviews conducted as part of a systems planning effort revealed a high level of satisfaction with the system. The acceptance of and enthusiasm for the AMRS was coupled with a variety of ideas for improvement and enhancements to the system. Most of these suggestions were not uniquely related to the automated technology supporting the system but rather addressed medical records issues familiar to conventional paper systems. While this distinction is subtle, it further confirms the viability of an automated system and suggests directions for future growth.

Boston

Health planners and local public finance--the case for revenue sharing.

Little attention has been paid by health planners or researchers to questions of local public finance. However, a review of the literature concerning general revenue sharing (GRS) funds indicated that about $400 million per year from this source is spent on health services and resources. GRS funds, about $6.4 billion per year, are distributed to more than 39,000 State, county, and city governments. The 1976 amendments to the General Revenue Sharing Act eliminated restrictions on the use of the funds, and they can be employed as matching funds for other Federal monies. An exploratory study of the use of GRS funds for health purposes was conducted in several localities, with particular attention to the health systems agencies. Its results confirmed that there are wide variations among localities in the use of revenue-sharing funds to support health services. Also, not only did the health systems agencies' officials have little impact on the allocation of revenue sharing funds, but only in one locale had an HSA official taken a direct role in the budgetary process. Health planners, who were interviewed during the study, described what they considered their agencies' proper role in local budgetary matters.

Budgets

Strengthening the public health system.

Although the American public health system has made major contributions to life expectancy for residents of this country over the past century, the system now faces more complex health problems that require comprehensive approaches and increased capacity, particularly in local and State public health agencies. To strengthen the public health system, concerted action is needed to meet these five critical needs: First, the knowledge base of public health workers needs to be supplemented through on-the-job training and continuing education programs. To this end, self-study courses will be expanded, and a network of regional training centers will be established throughout the country. Second, communities need dynamic leadership from public health officials and their agencies. To enhance leadership skills and expand the leadership role of public health agencies, focused personal leadership development activities, including a Public Health Leadership Institute, and national conferences will provide a vision of the future role of public health agencies. Third, local and State public health agencies need access to data on the current health status of the people in their communities and guidance from the nation's public health experts. To improve access to information resources, state-of-the-art technologies will be deployed to create integrated information and communication systems linking all components of the public health system. Fourth, local and State agencies need disease prevention and health promotion plans that target problems and develop strategies and the capacity to address them. To provide communities with structured approaches to this process, planning tools have been developed and distributed, and technical assistance will be provided to local and State health agencies to involve each community in planning,priority setting, and constituency building.Finally, public health agencies need adequate resources to fund prevention programs. To improve the use of existing Federal support and enhance the availability of new community resources, grant programs will be modified, and innovative approaches to local resource enhancement will be developed and shared.Activities in these five key areas are designed to improve the infrastructure of the public health system and its capacity to carry out effectively the core functions of public health assessment, policy development, and assurance of the availability of the benefits of public health. If the nation is to achieve the health objectives for the year 2000, the public health system-the individuals and institutions that, when working effectively together, promote and protect the health of the people-must be strengthened.

Computer Communication Networks

Federal health services grants, 1985.

Federal health services grants amounted to about $1.8 billion in fiscal year 1985. The total amount was about $100 million less, about 6 percent, than in 1980. Reductions in the health planning program accounted for most of the decline in absolute dollars. The four formula grants to State agencies amounted to about $1.0 billion in 1985, about 60 percent of the total. The largest formula grants were for maternal and child health services and for alcohol, drug abuse, and mental health services. Project grants to selected State and local agencies amounted to about $.8 billion. There was 12 such grants in 1985 (compared with 34 in 1980). The largest, for community health services, equaled almost half the total. In real, inflation-adjusted dollars, the decline in Federal funds for these programs exceeded a third during the 5-year period. The overall dollar total in real terms in 1985 approximated the 1970 level. The ratio of formula grants to project grants in 1985 was similar to that in 1965. Studies of the impact of changes in Federal grants have found that while the development of health programs has been seriously constrained in most cases, their nature has not been substantially altered. In some cases broader program approaches and allocations have been favored. Established modes of operations and administration have generally been strengthened. Some efficiencies but few savings in administration have been identified. Replacement of reduced Federal funding by the States has been modest but has increased over time, especially for direct service activities. These changes reflect the important influence of professionalism in the health fields and the varying strengths of political interest and influence among program supporters. The long-term impact on program innovation is not yet clear.

Child Health Services

Health promotion and health education: the emerging role of the private sector.

The climate is right for new ventures in health education, especially those in which corporate leaders join forces with other members of the communities where they do business. Working with the public sector and other members of the private sector--with schools, universities, health departments, churches, professional associations, voluntary agencies, and foundations--corporations can become a vital new force in supporting health education not only of their own employees but also of children and adults and the public at large.

Commerce

An evaluation of subsidized rural primary care programs: II. The environmental contexts.

The placement of subsidized primary care programs in rural communities has been an important aspect of national health policy over the last decade. Using survey and secondary data from programs in over 700 counties in the United States, it was found that while about one-fourth of all counties with some rural populations have been affected by these programs, certain environmental factors are associated with more or less likelihood of placement. High levels of need and low levels of health care resources are positively associated with the presence of a program. States with health policy climates supportive of reimbursement and broader staffing of primary care programs also contained programs in a higher proportion of their rural counties. The effects of decreased federal funding, increased state responsibility, and the precarious market conditions for primary care programs are discussed with emphasis on the mechanisms for developing favorable climates for these programs.

Community Health Services

The Canadian health care system: an overview.

Although health care is a provincial responsibility in Canada, universal hospital insurance was fully adopted by 1961; universal medical insurance followed 10 years later. Each province enacted universal insurance after the federal government offered to pay 50% of provincial hospital and medical care costs. Hospital insurance had wide public and provider support but universal medical care insurance was opposed by organized medicine. The federal government soon realized that it had no control over total expenditures and no mechanisms for controlling costs. In 1977 it enacted Bill C-37 which limited total federal contributions and made those contributions independent of provincial health care expenditures so that increased costs had to be met by the provinces. Since private health care insurance for universal benefits is prohibited by the federal terms of reference for health insurance, the provinces must raise the money by taxes and (in some provinces) premiums. Although prohibited by the terms of reference of the universal program, some provinces have adopted hospital user fees and are allowing their physicians to bill patients in excess of provincial fee schedules. The 1980s have seen increased confrontations between the federal and provincial governments and between the provinces and their providers. The issues are cost containment and control of the system. The provinces have two broad options. The first is more private funding through private insurance and user fees. The proposed new Canada Health Act will probably prohibit such charges. A second option involves greater control and management of the system by the provinces; this has already occurred in Quebec. Greater control is vigorously opposed by physicians and hospitals. The Canadian solution to health insurance problems in the past has been moderation. Extreme moves in either direction would represent a break with tradition, but they may prove to be unavoidable.

Canada

Hospital-sponsored primary care: I. Organizational and financial effects.

Findings are presented from a seven-year (1976-83) evaluation of the Community Hospital Program (CHP), a national demonstration program sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to assist 54 community hospitals in improving the organization of access to primary care. Upon grant expiration, 66 per cent of hospital-sponsored group practices continued under some form of hospital sponsorship; over 90 per cent developed or were planning to develop spin-off programs; and new physicians were recruited and retained in the community. About 9 per cent of hospital admissions were accounted for by group physicians and grantee hospitals experienced a greater annual increase in their market share of admissions than competing hospitals in the area. While only three of the groups generated sufficient revenue to cover expenses during the grant period, 21 additional groups broke even during the first post-grant year. Productivity and cost per visit compared favorably with most other forms of care. Hospitalization rates from the hospital-sponsored practices were somewhat lower than those for other forms of care. Medical director leadership and involvement and the organization design of the practice were among several key factors associated with higher performing practices. The ability of such joint hospital-physician ventures to meet the needs of the poor and elderly in a time of Medicare and Medicaid cutbacks is discussed along with suggestions for targeting future initiatives in primary care.

Evaluation Studies as Topic