General – Page 61 – AZ Dept. of Health Services Director's Blog

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

AZ Biomedical Research Commission Roadmap

By azdhs-admin| 2017-02-10T09:51:22-07:00 December 28th, 2011|General|

Last legislative session, the Legislature and Governor made a statutory change that moved the AZ Biomedical Research Commission to our agency. The Commission basically awards contracts for research projects that translate into interventions to save lives. Our funding (a few million dollars per year) comes from tobacco taxes and some lottery funds. Shoana Anderson has volunteered to serve as [...]

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House on Fire: The Fight to Eradicate Smallpox

By azdhs-admin| 2017-02-10T09:51:22-07:00 December 23rd, 2011|General|

Looking for a book to read over the holidays about one of public health’s biggest achievements? You’ll enjoy a new book written by Dr. Bill Foege called House on Fire: The Fight to Eradicate Smallpox. Dr. Foege was a key leader in the smallpox eradication effort. He joined the CDC in 1962 in the Epidemic Intelligence Service [...]

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Behavioral Health State Plan Released

By azdhs-admin| 2017-02-10T09:51:22-07:00 December 22nd, 2011|General|

Our Division of Behavioral Health Services recently submitted its combined mental health and substance abuse prevention and treatment services State Plan for FY 12-13 to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The Plan that we submitted to SAMHSA doubles as the State Plan that’s required by ARS 36-550.01. The Plan provides an overview of Arizona’s [...]

Web-Based EMT Certification Coming Soon

By azdhs-admin| 2017-02-10T09:51:23-07:00 December 21st, 2011|General, Licensing|

As our IT team was developing the electronic medical marijuana application tool they started seeing that the code they were writing had potential uses in other parts of the agency. In other words- that the basics of the Code could be used to electronify some of our other business lines. We looked for areas that consumed [...]

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Acing the Preparedness Test

By azdhs-admin| 2011-12-20T08:32:49-07:00 December 20th, 2011|General|

Disease detection and swift and effective public health interventions are essential to saving lives in a public health emergency. According to a new report from the CDC on Public Health Preparedness, Arizona's public health system is ready and well-prepared. The CDC report outlines the Department’s ability to detect and respond to a wide range of public [...]

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Sharpening the Axe

By azdhs-admin| 2017-02-10T09:51:24-07:00 December 19th, 2011|Behavioral Health, General|

There's a well-known quote attributed to Abe Lincoln that goes something like this: "Give me 6 hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first 4 sharpening the axe." Maybe somebody will someday quote me as saying: "Give us 20 months to transform the delivery of behavioral health and primary care services to address the [...]

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Community Health Diagnostics

By azdhs-admin| 2017-02-10T09:51:24-07:00 December 15th, 2011|General|

Last week I wrote about the Health Care/Public Health Continuum… in which I described how in the public health world the community is the patient. In order to assess and better help the patient we need to have indicators and surveillance data to help us construct and implement interventions. One of our primary goals over [...]

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Medicare Physician Bonus Program

By azdhs-admin| 2011-12-14T08:34:16-07:00 December 14th, 2011|General|

The Fed’s operate a Medicare Physician Bonus Program to encourage doctors to work in underserved areas and improve access to care for folks on Medicare. Certain physicians (including MDs, DOs, dentists, podiatrists, and chiropractors) are eligible to receive a 10% bonus if they’re providing services to Medicare beneficiaries in a geographic primary care Health Professional [...]

Medicare Moves Upstream

By azdhs-admin| 2017-02-10T09:51:24-07:00 December 13th, 2011|General, Prevention|

Keeping off the pounds is tough at any age. Now seniors are getting a helping hand from Medicare. Last month Medicare announced that it’s adding coverage for nutritional and behavioral counseling for those who are obese as measured by body mass index or BMI. BMI is a tool which measures weight status for adults- and [...]

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Patient Confidentiality: A Cornerstone of Public Health Practice

By azdhs-admin| 2017-02-10T09:51:25-07:00 December 8th, 2011|General|

When we think about holding things in confidence- several relationships come to mind that have a long history built on trust and the sharing of deeply private information. Most of us can name these relationships with ease… husband and wife… lawyer and client… health care providers, public health officials and patients. These relationships exist for [...]

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ARIZONA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH SERVICES

Health and Wellness for All Arizonans

ARIZONA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH SERVICES

Health and Wellness for All Arizonans

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