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

Inpatient Behavioral Health Hospitals Licensing

By | August 25th, 2010|Behavioral Health, General|

For many years, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has required inpatient hospitals that serve people under 21 to be accredited by The Joint Commission (formerly called the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations or JCAHO).  Because the Commission standards are pretty rigorous, we’ve had limited network capacity for the inpatient treatment [...]

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New “Health Center Access Point” Grants

By | August 24th, 2010|General|

The HHS announced availability of the “Health Center New Access Point” Grants.  Up to $250M is available for the delivery of primary health care services for underserved and vulnerable populations under the Health Center Program.  A new access point is a new full-time service delivery site that provides comprehensive primary and preventive health care services. [...]

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Medical Marijuana (Cannabis) Ballot Language Finalized

By | August 23rd, 2010|General|

The language for all of the ballot propositions, including the Arizona Medical Marijuana (Cannabis) Act, was approved this week.  Last week, an analysis of the initiative for the voter guide was written by the Legislative Council.   The actual words that will be on the ballot for Proposition 203 is as follows:   Proposition 203 – [...]

Yet Another Obesity Call to Action

By | August 19th, 2010|General|

You probably think I sound like a broken record because I’m always writing about obesity…  but it really is the dominant public health issue of our time.  Last week, the CDC released its latest Vital Signs report called "State-Specific Obesity Prevalence Among Adults – United States, 2009,"…  which finds that nine states had an obesity [...]

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Winnable Battle- Healthcare Acquired Infections

By | August 18th, 2010|General|

Each year in the US there are 1.7 million health care associated infections that cause approximately 99,000 deaths in US hospitals.  There are lots of germs that can cause health care associated infections, but 16% are in the really bad category because they’re resistant to  antibiotics.  These multidrug-resistant organisms pose huge problems once they get [...]

Health and Safety of Residential Clients Protected

By | August 17th, 2010|General|

Last month, the City of Phoenix submitted a complaint against a supervisory care center in Phoenix, alleging neglect of the residents.  Our team from Assisted Living Licensing worked with the Phoenix Police Department, Phoenix Fire Department, and a Phoenix neighborhood association to conduct an investigation of the supervisory care center.  The investigation substantiated that approximately [...]

New Vital Statistics computer application

By | August 16th, 2010|General|

We have developed a new computer application and website to support the new abortion reporting requirements introduced with the passing of SB1304 into law.  This new law requires additional information to be provided to AHDS when abortions are performed or complications develop.  Currently, medical providers are required to report particular information to ADHS in an effort to collect [...]

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The 2010 Infectious Disease Training and Tabletop Exercise

By | August 13th, 2010|General|

was held at ASU July 27th -29th.  This is the first time that we have brought together all of the fields of infectious disease including HIV, TB, STDs, Vector-borne Disease, Foodborne Disease and Invasive Bacterial Infections in a unified training.  The training: Had almost 300 attendees from across the state, including physicians, nurses, sanitarians, local health [...]

Magellan Year 5

By | August 12th, 2010|Behavioral Health, General|

Last month we approved the renewal of the fifth and final year of the Magellan behavioral health contract in Maricopa County.   Before making the decision to grant the 5th year of the contract, our team assessed the progress that has been made in various areas, including access to and coordination of care; grievance and appeal [...]

ACPTC Security Enhancements

By | August 12th, 2010|General|

Last October a person that was awaiting a civil commitment hearing escaped from our Arizona Community Protection and Treatment Center ACPTC, which provides for the civil commitment of people who have a mental disorder that predisposes them to commit sexual acts that pose a danger to the health and safety of others.  Fortunately the person that [...]