General

/General

Here you will find topics ranging from current events that affect public health in Arizona to overall information about the Arizona Department of Health Services

Think Before You Ink

By | August 31st, 2012|General|

Many of you have probably seen the signs around town about the Tattoo Expo that is happening this weekend in Phoenix.  Tattoos have been growing in popularity over the past decade, but that doesn't mean they’re completely safe. Recently there was a recall of tattoo ink because the ink was contaminated with an unusual (and stubborn)  bacteria [...]

New “Home-Grown” ITS Programs

By | August 28th, 2012|General|

Team ITS delivered and deployed 2 more new web modules for the Medical Marijuana application this week: the 1) dispensary agent processing module; and 2) a new version of the Verification System which more efficiently facilitates card verification for law enforcement officers and employers in real time.  Thanks much to everyone who assisted in the development of these modules. From ITS, [...]

Tattoo You 2

By | August 23rd, 2012|General, Preparedness, Prevention|

Today, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released information about an infection some folks were getting because of the ink used in their tattoos.  It reminds me that there are some good practices that folks who want tattoos can ask their artist about - I wrote about it last year in Tattoo You? Regardless [...]

Essential Benefit Package 101

By | August 21st, 2012|Affordable Care Act, General|

The future health insurance exchange under the Affordable Care Act will need to offer an Essential Benefit Package. In fact, most health insurance plans will need to cover each state’s Essential Benefit Package starting New Year’s Day in 2014. There are 10 key service categories that future plans will need to cover- including behavioral health services.  States need [...]

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Health Insurance Exchanges

By | August 20th, 2012|Affordable Care Act, General|

The Affordable Care Act (aka health care reform) will establish health insurance exchanges in each state- providing folks (and small business employees) an opportunity to get health insurance coverage starting 1/1/14. The future exchanges will provide competitive marketplaces for folks to directly compare and buy private health insurance based on price, quality, and other things.  The law [...]

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Citizenship, Benefits & Services

By | August 18th, 2012|Behavioral Health, General, Preparedness|

Many of our Stakeholders and the folks that we serve have asked about how Arizona and Federal laws affect the kinds of services that the ADHS provides.  The answer is (of course) “it depends.”  It depends on what kind of benefit or service you’re talking about.  Tom Salow, Lynn Golder and others have put together [...]

Evidence Based Practice x (Training + Teamwork) = Results

By | August 17th, 2012|General|

We’ve been implementing an evidence-based practice called Non-Violent Crisis Intervention as our operational model at the AZ State Hospital for the last few months- and we’re already seeing dramatic results.  It's a best practice for early intervention and de-escalation created by the Crisis Prevention Institute.  It’s based on teamwork and training.  By using a cohesive team that’s [...]

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Public Health’s National Archive

By | August 17th, 2012|General|

A new public health archive called CDC Stacks opened their on-line doors this week.  CDC Stacks contains documents spanning the history of CDC from issue 1 of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report to the most current CDC guidelines and recommendations. The library is at http://stacks.cdc.gov. Dig in- or at least put it in your Favorites.

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OK Then, What’s Health-e-Arizona?

By | August 16th, 2012|General|

Health-e-Arizona is an on-line benefits application for Arizona residents. Folks can apply for AHCCCS Health Insurance coverage, KidsCare, KidsCare II, Nutrition Assistance through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly called food stamps) and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families cash assistance using the on-line Health-e-Arizona system.  We encourage anybody that’s interested in finding out whether they’re eligible for any of [...]

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What’s Health-e Connection?

By | August 15th, 2012|General|

Arizona Health-e Connection - better known as AzHeC- is a state-wide public/private collaborative for advancing the adoption of health information technology and health information exchange. We have a seat on the board which advances the secure and private sharing of electronic health information. Here's their 2011 Annual Report.  The Arizona Health-e Connection team has been working closely with Janet Mullen and Paula [...]

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