The 1973 Inventory of Health Programs is the second report of this type produced by the Association of State and Territorial Health Officers Health Program Reporting System (ASTHO-HPRS). It contains a listing of all health programs reported by State and Territorial Health Departments.
A "Health Program" for the purpose of this Inventory is a function which is identifiable
and distinguishable in terms of its focus on problem or need, services rendered, organiza-
tional structure and resource support. In addition, the Inventory includes identifiable
units which are supportive to programs and services within the state and local agencies.
Complete definitions of these terms are included in the Glossary.
This Inventory, therefore, provides a general profile of the essential programs, units, or-
ganizations and operations of State and Territorial Health Departments and may furnish
some insights into the national pattern in this regard. Caution should be exercised in mak-
ing comparisons of the state listings because of the fact that the names of individual pro-
grams as reported by the States and Territories vary. Used appropriately, the Inventory
may provide a useful reference tool for legislators, administrators, planners and scholars
concerned with health programs at national, state and local levels. A new feature of this
year's Inventory involves the identification of programs which have been initiated or termi-
nated during Fiscal Year 1974.
In order to enhance the usefulness of the basic Inventory, summary information drawn
from it is graphically presented in Section I. These charts group the listings of the Inven-
tory into selective program categories which are broken down according to the nature of
the state's responsibility with regard to them.
This Inventory is one part of a research and development project undertaken with con-
tractual support from the Health Services and Mental Health Administration to meet the
need for uniform comprehensive summary health program information at national, regional
and state levels. Under its program the ASTHO-HPRS has collected specific uniform in-
formation on a substantial number of the programs listed in the Inventory. These data
cover critical aspects of Program Description, Services Rendered, Description of the Pro-
gram Population and Resources Expended. Data analysis of the returns from 56 States
and Territories is currently in progress.
Your comments and suggestions with regard to this Inventory Report and the full scope of the information gathering effort of the ASTHO-HPRS Project as described above are earnestly invited. Address communications to Stephen J. Ackerman, Project Director, Association of State and Territorial Health Officers Health Program Reporting System Project, Suite 202, 1555 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036.
Nationwide, the health programs conducted, sponsored, supported and monitored by
state and local health departments vary in number, in name, in function, in geographic
coverage and in placement within the organizational structure of each health department.
Each State and Territorial Health Department, in addition to identifying its programs and
units, was asked to indicate the operational responsibility for each. The purpose of the
classification as to the state responsibility is to indicate for each program and unit:
(1) The placement of management responsibility for the program or unit, (2) the type
of legal authority under which the program or unit operates, (3) the placement of finan-
cial responsibility for program or unit funding, and (4) private agency responsibility.
The operational responsibility is indicated in the Inventory by codes shown to the right
of each item. Special attention was given to the role of local agencies and of agencies
other than the state which may share in the operation of a program. Seven individual
program areas are shown for each of the operational codes. These program areas are
combined into logical groupings which include services to people and the environment,
systems monitoring and regulation, and professional and management supporting units.