Assessing entrepreneurship in governmental public health

P.D. Jacobson, J. Wasserman, H.W. Wu and J.R. Lauer

American Journal of Public Health, 2015, vol. 105, S318-S322

Abstract: Objectives: We assessed the feasibility and desirability of public health entrepreneurship (PHE) in governmental public health. Methods: Using a qualitative case study approach with semistructured interview protocols, we conducted interviews between April 2010 and January 2011 at 32 local health departments (LHDs) in 18 states. Respondents included chief health officers and senior LHD staff, representatives from national public health organizations, health authorities, and public health institutes. Results: Respondents identified PHE through 3 overlapping practices: strategic planning, operational efficiency, and revenue generation. Clinical services offer the strongest revenue-generating potential, and traditional public health services offer only limited entrepreneurial opportunities. Barriers include civil service rules, a risk-averse culture, and concerns that PHE would compromise core public health values. Conclusions: Ongoing PHE activity has the potential to reduce LHDs' reliance on unstable general public revenues. Yet under the best of circumstances, it is difficult to generate revenue from public health services. Although governmental public health contains pockets of entrepreneurial activity, its culture does not sustain significant entrepreneurial activity. The question remains as to whether LHDs' current public revenue sources are sustainable and, if not, whether PHE is a feasible or desirable alternative.

Keywords: commercial phenomena; financial management; government; human; interview; organization and management; public health service; United States, Efficiency, Organizational; Entrepreneurship; Financing, Organized; Humans; Interviews as Topic; Local Government; Public Health Administration; United States (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:10.2105/ajph.2014.302388_0

DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2014.302388

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