The Top 5 things that kill people in Arizona: heart disease, cancer, lung diseases like emphysema and chronic bronchitis, stroke, and injuries. In fact - these 5 conditions cause 63% of all deaths - which is nearly 18,000 people each year in Arizona (about 50 people/day). Tobacco use is a major factor in 4 out [...]
Healthcare-Associated infections continued to be a major (and largely preventable) threat to patient safety in Arizona during 2014 - although we had better results this year. The 2014 National and State Healthcare Associated Infections Progress Report found significant reductions for nearly all infections in Arizona. Arizona’s public health system takes a layered approach to preventing [...]
People with a serious mental illness die more than 25 years earlier than the general population…an unacceptable health disparity in anybody’s book. The increased mortality is largely from treatable medical conditions caused by modifiable risk factors like smoking, obesity, substance abuse, and not accessing primary and acute medical care. We recognized the need to address [...]
Our Child Care Licensing shop launched a new Child Care Licensing application last week. The Bureau regulates nearly 2,500 Child Care Centers in the state of Arizona. The new web application gives Child Care Centers a way to submit licensing (and enforcement) fees - increasing the efficiency of our processing time. The application is also designed as [...]
Emergency Medical Services will also be improved thanks to some new rules that will take effect on January 1. The new rules (filed last week) make it easier for a patient who meets certain criteria to be taken to someplace other than an emergency department. The new rules also allow some emergency medical care technicians [...]
We met a major milestone in 2014 when we filed our final new set of regulations for Arizona’s 5,500 licensed healthcare facilities. We’ve now completed our overhaul of the State’s regulations of hospitals, behavioral health inpatient facilities, nursing care institutions, recovery care centers, hospices, behavioral health residential facilities, assisted living facilities, outpatient surgical centers, outpatient [...]
Our Special Licensing shop (which licenses certified professional midwives) went live with a new Midwife Electronic Reporting Utility last week…providing a secure online application for submission and viewing of midwife reports. Our certified professional midwives can now use the electronic reporting tool and our Midwife Survey Reporting Guide to track outcomes. The new web utility provides [...]
On January 1 we’ll begin accepting applications for a new class of health care institution called counseling facilities. New Rules (adopted this week) provide facilities a way to become licensed for counseling services. The new rules will allow the facility to be stand-alone (doing all administrative activities itself) or to be affiliated with another counseling [...]
Service capacity increases mandated by the Arnold v. Sarn lawsuit are on target. The exit agreement on the suit stipulates an increase of services for folks living with a serious mental illness in Maricopa County during fiscal years 2015-2016. Mercy Maricopa Integrated Care (the regional behavioral health authority for Maricopa County) is on target in [...]
The mind and body aren’t separated - and neither should the healthcare delivery system - especially for folks with a serious mental illness. People with a serious mental illness die more than 25 years earlier than the general population…an unacceptable health disparity in anybody’s book. The increased mortality is largely from treatable medical conditions caused [...]
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