Posts Tagged ‘health care providers’

The Health Care/Public Health Continuum

March 13th, 2013

In the world of health care- the clinician works with patients individually. They examine various indicators of health for their patient including direct observations and laboratory or other diagnostic tests and implement interventions to help their patient improve their health. Providers also encourage their patients to live healthy lifestyles and take safety precautions- and help patients with preventative care by providing vaccinations and the like. Over time, the health care provider follows the patient and measures how they’re doing with patient centered criteria. 

In the world of public health, the practitioner works with communities… in other words the community is the patient. Public health folks look at outcome indicators to determine the health of the community so they can take action and implement interventions at the wholesale level to improve population health. In other words- public health uses community indicators like infant mortality, communicable disease rates, obesity and diabetes to assess the patient (the community). Of course, public health relies on health care providers in the health care world to carry out public health objectives and interventions. 

So you can see that there is a strong interface between health care and public health- but the distinction is that in health care the patient is the patient while in public health the community is the patient- the interventions are community based, and community indicators are the primary assessment tool. By the way, reports suggest that behavior accounts for roughly 50% of health outcomes, genetics about 20%, the environmental about 20%, with medical care about 10%… 96% of our national health expenditures are focused on medical care with about 4% dedicated to prevention. Does prevention sound like a good investment?

No comments »

Posted in Prevention

Tags:

50 Years of Newborn Screening

January 29th, 2013

Last year we welcomed about 87,000 newborns to Arizona.  Our Newborn Screening Program (in our State Lab) ensures that each are tested for 28 inherited disorders and hearing problems.   The goal is to help kids avoid illness, developmental delays and even death.  Teamwork, communication and coordination are critical in making this program effective.  A quick look at the numbers reveals how monumental this screening task really is.

On any given day our newborn screening team receives and tests from 600 to 1,500 bloodspot samples for each of the 28 disorders. Our demographics team verifies the results and confirms all of the data associated with each sample as well as ensuring that lab results are sent out to the health care provider.  Our case management team follows up on about 140 potentially positive results (including hearing) each week, coordinates the confirmation test and works with pediatricians, clinical specialists and families.

 

The end result?  Because of the dedication and commitment of each member of the Team, hundreds of families have the opportunity for their newborn to receive the early treatment, intervention and support services that will allow them to lead normal lives.  Of course, none of this would be possible without the gasoline that runs the engine, the billing department brings in the money that keeps this effective machine helping families every day.

The first state-mandated newborn screening programs began in Massachusetts, Oregon, and Delaware 50 years ago this week.  Now, 97% of U.S. newborns are screened by state public health labs like ours.  The Association of Public Health Laboratories is partnering with the CDC to launch a year-long public awareness campaign to celebrate this milestone. The campaign website includes a calendar of events and informational resources for expectant parents, healthcare providers, and health decision-makers.

1 comment »

Posted in General, Prevention

Tags:

Affordable Care Act Fact Sheets

November 7th, 2012

The Fed’s put out a series of pretty simple and easy to read 1-page fact sheets this week that summarize some of the aspects of the Affordable Care Act.  There are Fact Sheets for Families with Kids; Health Care Providers; Folks with Disabilities; Seniors; Small Business Owners; and Young Adults.  At the bottom of each fact sheet there’s a link to a special ACA website for each of these categories.  You might want to share these with your Stakeholders in these categories.

No comments »

Posted in Affordable Care Act

Tags:

What’s National Health Service Corps?

October 25th, 2012

The Affordable Care Act provided $1.5B nationally (through September 2015) to the National Health Service Corps to train and recruit more primary care providers via scholarships and loan repayment assistance. It’s a federal program been building healthy communities by connecting primary health care providers to areas of the United States with limited access to care since 1972. 

The Corps basically brings health care to those who need it most because of limited access to care.  Today, there are more than 10,000 providers who commit to serve in underserved communities and serve many of the country’s most vulnerable populations.  In Arizona, the new expansion provides the opportunity for communities to use the Corps for recruitment and retention of primary care providers in medically underserved areas. 

Locally, our Bureau of Health Systems Development collaborates with the Arizona Association of Community Health Centers to provide tools and successful models for recruitment and retention to Chief Medical Officers, Medical Directors, Human Resources Directors, Clinic Administrators, and other staff involved in recruitment and retention.  You can find the full list of events happening in Arizona to celebrate the upcoming  Annual Corps Community Day.

No comments »

Posted in Affordable Care Act

Tags:

What’s Health-e Connection?

August 15th, 2012

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 Mattingly as well as other key IT team members at ADHS regarding the electronic submission of immunizations and regarding  the options that health care providers have to meet related “Meaningful Use” requirements…  which includes submitting a “test” for the electronic submission of immunizations to the registry.  When we recently conducted a pilot regarding the use of a new point-to-point, secure messaging solution for health information exchange (called Direct Exchange) the Arizona Health-e Connection team worked closely with us and used a few willing Arizona Regional Extension Center to conduct the pilot.  We’re planning to move that project into production this fall, so that Direct Exchange can be utilized for ongoing submission of immunizations to the registry.

 

No comments »

Posted in General

Tags:

ADHS’ Disease Detectives

July 25th, 2012

Awhile back, our epidemiology and licensing team of disease detectives including Jason Lempp, Cara Christ, Vinita Oberoi, Jessica Rigler, Ken Komatsu, Kathy McCanna, Connie Belden, Ken Komatsu, and Shoana Anderson learned of a severe case of a Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus  (MRSA) through our 24-hour disease reporting system.  Our team quickly contacted the county public health department which immediately began an investigation into the cause.  

Their investigation quickly uncovered more people with the infection who had been seen the same day.  The detectives also found that a single-dose vial of solution used for pain meds was diluted and used for more than one patient.  Medication shortages often push health-care providers to search for solutions to provide comparable care using limited supplies- which is what looks like happened in this case.  

Our work with the county led to an improvement in the clinic’s practices through discontinued use of mixed products; appropriate use of single dose vials; using personal protective equipment, such as face masks, during medication preparation and injections procedures; education of all staff on infection control practices; and the development of a plan to report further suspected infections.  This Arizona investigation was written up in this week’s CDC Feature Article and has added to the national picture on injection safety best practices. 

Note: Health-care-associated infections (HAI) affect nearly 100,000 people every year and result in over $30B in unnecessary health-care costs (HHS).  Our HAI Program works with partners across the state to rapidly identify and help prevent these infections. Traditionally, the focus of preventing HAIs has been in hospital settings, but more and more people are being identified outside of hospital settings.  They can happen at any health-care facility, but simple steps can help protect patients.

No comments »

Posted in Prevention

Tags:

Patient Confidentiality: A Cornerstone of Public Health Practice

December 8th, 2011

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 a reason.  To share one’s deepest thoughts, emotions, challenges, fears or medical conditions with another person requires a sacred trust.  That expectation of trust allows us to navigate through life’s challenges… confident that we can overcome whatever may be in our path… certain that we can heal from our wounds… willing to make peace with what may face us along the way. 

Patient confidentiality is a cornerstone of public health practice- not just because of patient information protection laws like HIPAA- but because it’s the right thing to do.   The effectiveness of the entire public health system rests on a foundation of trust.  A covenant within the entire Health Care/Public Health Continuum that gives patients the assurance that their private information will remain private.  Without that trust- the critical public health information that we rely on to implement effective public health interventions and save lives would erode. 

Violating that sacred trust would also cause irreparable harm to the very people we’re trying to help.  Would you be comfortable telling your physician or the public health system private information if you knew it would be shared with your friends, neighbors or complete strangers?  Would it instill confidence that the provider and the public health system had your best interest as a priority?   The answer to these questions for most people is clearly “No”.    

Those are just some of the reasons why we take patient confidentiality so seriously- whether it’s communicable disease information, data from our cancer, birth defects, trauma registries, patient information within the public behavioral health system, or information about the folks that we help at the Arizona State Hospital.  As the agency that has the privilege of promoting health and wellness for all Arizonans- it’s important that we also hold the trust and confidence of Arizonans that comes with that privilege.

No comments »

Posted in General

Tags:

The Health Care/Public Health Continuum

November 29th, 2011

In the world of health care- the clinician works with patients individually.  They examine various indicators of health for their patient including direct observations and laboratory or other diagnostic tests and implement interventions to help their patient improve their health.  Providers also encourage their patients to live healthy lifestyles and take safety precautions- and help patients with preventative care by providing vaccinations and the like. Over time, the health care provider follows the patient and measures how they’re doing with patient centered criteria.  

In the world of public health, the practitioner works with communities…  in other words the community is the patient.  Public health folks look at various outcome indicators to determine the health of the community so they can take action and implement interventions at the wholesale level to improve population health. In other words- public health uses community indicators like infant mortality, communicable disease rates, obesity and diabetes to assess the patient (the community).  Of course, public health relies on health care providers in the health care world to carry out public health objectives and interventions. 

So you can see that there is a strong interface between health care and public health- but the distinction is that in health care the patient is the patient while in public health the community is the patient- the interventions are community based, and community indicators are the primary assessment tool.  By the way, studies and reports suggest that behavior accounts for roughly 50% of health outcomes, genetics about 20%, the environmental about 20%, with medical care about 10%… 96% of our national health expenditures are focused on medical care with about 4% dedicated to prevention.

 

No comments »

Posted in General, Prevention

Tags: