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Perceived Outcomes of Public Health Privatization: A National Survey of Local Health Department Directors
Author(s) -
Keane Christopher,
Marx John,
Ricci Edmund
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
the milbank quarterly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.563
H-Index - 101
eISSN - 1468-0009
pISSN - 0887-378X
DOI - 10.1111/1468-0009.00198
Subject(s) - business , communicable disease , public health , health services , outbreak , health department , service (business) , environmental health , medicine , nursing , marketing , population , virology
Almost three quarters of the nation's local health departments (LHDs) have privatized some services. About half of LHD directors who privatized services reported cost savings and half reported that privatization had facilitated their performance of the core public health functions. Expanded access to services was the most commonly reported positive outcome. Of those privatizing, over two‐fifths of LHDs reported a resulting increase in time devoted to management. Yet, one‐third of directors reported difficulty monitoring and controlling services that have been contracted out. Communicable disease services was cited most often as a service that should not be privatized. There is a pervasive concern that by contracting out services, health departments can lose the capacity to respond to disease outbreaks and other crises.