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The Economic Cost of Communicable Disease Surveillance in Local Public Health Agencies
Author(s) -
Atherly Adam,
Whittington Melanie,
VanRaemdonck Lisa,
Lampe Sarah
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
health services research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.706
H-Index - 121
eISSN - 1475-6773
pISSN - 0017-9124
DOI - 10.1111/1475-6773.12791
Subject(s) - public health , data collection , environmental health , medicine , agency (philosophy) , unit cost , unit (ring theory) , scale (ratio) , business , survey data collection , geography , nursing , statistics , economics , philosophy , mathematics education , mathematics , cartography , epistemology , microeconomics
Objective We identify economic costs associated with communicable disease ( CD ) monitoring/surveillance in Colorado local public health agencies and identify possible economies of scale. Data Sources/Study Setting Data were collected via a survey of local public health employees engaged in CD work. Survey respondents logged time spent on CD surveillance for 2‐week periods in the spring of 2014 and fall of 2014. Forty‐three of the 54 local public health agencies in Colorado participated. Study Design We used a microcosting approach. We estimated a statistical cost function using cost as a function of the number of reported investigable diseases during the matched 2‐week period. We also controlled for other independent variables, including case mix, characteristics of the agency, the community, and services provided. Data Collection/Extraction Methods Data were collected from a microcosting survey using time logs. Principal Findings Costs increased at a decreasing rate as cases increased, with both cases ( β = 431.5, p < .001) and cases squared ( β = −3.62, p = .05) statistically significant. Conclusions and Implications The results of the model suggest economies of scale. Cost per unit is estimated to be one‐third lower for high‐volume agencies as compared to low‐volume agencies. Cost savings could potentially be achieved if smaller agencies shared services.