Statistics continue to suggest that understaffing and resource constraints reduces and prevents getting to the full vulnerable populations. A community engaged in a fully deployed public health system is the best way to increase population health and reduce the demand on the rest of the health system. This supports advancing disease prevention, promoting overall physical and mental health, responding to public health threats, and supporting the public to make informed decisions about their health.
Public Health Services are intended as both a proactive and preventive healthcare mechanism to provide programs and support to keep individuals healthy and mitigate the risk of injury, illness and premature death. The programs primarily address chronic diseases, preventable mental health and physical conditions that pose the greatest impact on a majority of the vulnerable population. These include:
Recent spending on public health services amounted to only 6% of total health expenditures, leaving 94% of the funding to focus on sickness versus proactive and pharmaceuticals at 15%.*
However, evidence and common sense tell us that preventing illness and injuries is more cost-effective than treating individuals once they fall ill. Yet the spending tallies show the prioritization of medical services to treat disease and injury in individuals vastly more than the public health services that keep populations healthy. This
This approach does not support public well-being or economic efficiency. Our team will constantly advocate for a shift in this funding model but until that happens, we will focus on helping the people delivering public health services to get the most out of these limited funds.
*Source: Canadian Institute for Health Information
The Public Health Sector continues to face ongoing challenges in meeting its mandate, such as:
Many nurses and care providers are spending as much time bogged down in administration and paperwork as they are supporting their clients. We help reduce non-value-added tasks so they can spend more time providing support to the people they serve.
When you are rushing and feeling like you are never caught up, errors happen. We understand the ‘client facing’ requirements and help design better processes and health outcome delivery systems to eliminate possible errors.
Trusting the healthcare provider is sometimes the biggest hurdle to overcome. It often takes many conversations to establish a relationship with individuals you are trying to help. By reducing ‘non value add’ tasks, you can stay in the conversation with the people you are trying to help.
Continual increases in the administrative burden and the number of people needing public health support is seemingly never-ending. Although the ultimate solution may be securing more staff, in the meantime our team can help with reducing administrative burdens, unnecessary documentation, client tracking for follow-up, time required for set up and tear down of immunization clinics in community settings, enhance ongoing education and training of staff.
The impact of underfunding leads to shortages in staff, resources, and equipment, impacting the quality of care provided. We can help you achieve optimal results and do the best that you can, with the resources available.
Below is some evidence of the economic benefit of public health interventions:
Every $1 spent on immunizing children with the measles-mumps rubella vaccine saves $16 in health care costs.
Every $1 invested in child car seats saves $58 in avoided medical costs.
Every $1 invested in fluoridated drinking water saves $26 in dental care.
Every $1 invested in tobacco prevention programs saves $22 in societal costs.
Every $1 spent on mental health promotion and early intervention for children and youth saves $2-17 in societal costs.
Every $1 spent on early childhood education and care saves up to $6 in future social spending.*
*Source: Canadian Institute for Health Information
Our comprehensive approach improves access to public health services through supply optimization, scheduling optimization, clinical capacity building, streamlined health service delivery, and operational efficiency. We facilitate clinical efficiencies and process enhancements for healthcare providers, ensuring equitable solutions and shorter wait times in program, service, and population support delivery. Our efficient operational strategies, including digital integration and outcome measurements, enhance service delivery and accommodating an increase in the number of people supported. This operational efficiency empowers health organizations to make informed decisions, ultimately enhancing access to essential care where it’s most needed.
Through an assessment of your current administrative health process workflows, we identify opportunities for improvement to minimize non-value-added work for nurses and providers. Utilizing process mapping and data-driven insights, we streamline workflows, eliminate redundancies, and identify automation opportunities. By understanding your health outcome delivery needs and employing Process Improvement in operations and design thinking principles, we create intuitive process flows, freeing up a Provider’s time to spend with the people they serve.
Through a comprehensive evaluation of resource and funding allocation practices, we will focus on optimizing resource utilization for efficiency and effective allocation. We’ll prioritize based on a Provider and clinic’s needs, strategize to enhance efficiency and recommend improvements using data analytics. With strategic planning, we’ll optimize budgets, reduce costs, and appropriately reallocate funds for high-impact areas. Through health outcome measurements, we’ll track metrics, address emerging needs, and refine resource allocation for better healthcare outcomes.
