Rules – AZ Dept. of Health Services Director's Blog

Major Regulatory Reform Milestone

By Will Humble|2017-02-10T09:49:40-07:00May 5th, 2014|Behavioral Health, Licensing|

Last week we passed a major milestone in our Strategic Plan when we filed our final new set of rules for the Arizona's 5,500 licensed healthcare facilities. With this week's filing - we've now completed our overhaul of the State's regulations for hospitals, behavioral health inpatient facilities, nursing care institutions, recovery care centers, hospices, behavioral health residential facilities, assisted living facilities, outpatient surgical centers, outpatient treatment centers, adult day health care [...]

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Regulatory Reform Revolution Continues

By Will Humble|2017-02-10T09:50:00-07:00November 7th, 2013|Licensing|

One of the things I’m most proud of over the last 5 years has been the way we successfully overhauled our regulation licensed healthcare institutions in AZ. Very few government entities could have accomplished such an all-encompassing regulatory reform effort that creates a new outcome-based system that will improve public health- while maintaining support from the [...]

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Licensing’s Stakeholder Cornucopia

By Will Humble|2017-02-10T09:50:30-07:00April 29th, 2013|Licensing|

Our Licensing and Rulemaking teams spent virtually all week hearing from hundreds of Stakeholders from numerous associations and licensees about our ongoing regulatory reform effort. Our team met with representatives from: Adult Day Health Care Facilities; Assisted Living Facilities; Home Health Agencies; Hospices; Hospitals; Nursing Care Institutions; Outpatient Surgical Centers; Outpatient Treatment Centers; Recovery Care [...]

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“Navigator” Standards Proposed by CMS

By Will Humble|2017-02-10T09:50:33-07:00April 11th, 2013|Affordable Care Act|

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released a proposed rule this week establishing proposed “Navigator” standards under the Affordable Care Act. Navigators are organizations that will be providing information to consumers about health insurance, the new Health Insurance Marketplace, qualified health plans, and public programs. In other words, Navigators will be providing assistance to [...]

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Licensing Changes Near

By Will Humble|2017-02-10T09:50:33-07:00April 9th, 2013|Licensing|

We're getting near the end of the long journey of our licensing regulatory reform. Last Wednesday we posted the revised draft rules for Chapter 10 (Health Care Institutions - Licensing) and Chapter 20 (Non-licensing approval). Our goals is to simplify and streamline our rules so they align with our strategic plan and map to improve public health [...]

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Strategic Plan Update

By Will Humble|2017-02-10T09:51:08-07:00June 13th, 2012|General|

Strategic Effectiveness is defined by three essential components: Formulate a Plan, Implement the Plan, and Review and Adjust. Many times we do the first two and forget to come back to the third most important step needed for true progress to occur. To “review and adjust,” our senior leadership met in mid-April to do an annual [...]

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HB 2036: Abortion; Procedures; Informed Consent; Requirements

By Will Humble|2012-04-13T11:56:53-07:00April 13th, 2012|General|

The Governor signed HB 2036 today- which amends state law regarding abortions. We'll be responsible for implementing many of the law's provisions. Our Rules and Medical Licensing teams will be responsible for writing new regulations for the operating procedures at abortion clinics, our Medical Licensing team will be ensuring compliance with the new rules, and our IT and [...]

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Looking Forward, 2012

By azdhs-admin|2017-02-10T09:51:22-07:00January 3rd, 2012|General|

Looking forward, 2012 is going to be another busy year for all of us. During the last Deputy/Assistant Director meeting, managers shared the biggest priorities for the next six months and I will share a few of the highlights throughout this week in our blog. One key focus that echoed throughout everyone’s summary was an [...]

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Cottage Industry Foods Taking Off

By azdhs-admin|2017-02-10T09:51:31-07:00October 7th, 2011|General|

A few weeks ago, I wrote about our new Home Baked and Confectionary Goods Program. Since then, the program has really taken off. About 700 people have registered with the program since we turned the key a few weeks ago, baking a variety of snacks, ranging from cookies and cupcakes to healthy goodies. Bakers who [...]

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Cottage Industry Foods Rulemaking

By azdhs-admin|2011-07-29T16:13:14-07:00July 29th, 2011|Licensing, Preparedness, Prevention|

We were excited to roll out the new cottage industry food law last week because it provides new fundraising and self-employment for folks. Our brand-new cottage industry food website lays out some of the information folks will need to turn the key- including sample recipe’s and labels, ingredient templates, and how to get a food handler [...]

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