Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Chart of Accounts Commissioned Paper

State and local public health agencies are currently capturing data on costs in various ways and to different degrees, but the current lack of consistency in the ways this data is collected results in gaps of evidence production and application. A mechanism for consistency will unlock a powerful force for research, practice improvement and policy development. The following activities will be conducted in the development of this paper: (1) conduct a targeted review of the literature on the COA models in several analogous areas, including education and health care, to identify design and structural features and to flesh out examples of how the information systems are being used for policy and administrative decision support and for research. (2) review several of the most robust, existing state public health accounting data systems. (3) conduct some in]depth telephone interviews with key stakeholders and work group members to flesh out design principles, use cases, etc. (4) draft the paper, solicit comments from stakeholders, and revise.