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 [...]
More good news… starting last week- more uninsured women diagnosed with breast or cervical cancer will be eligible to receive comprehensive treatment through Arizona’s Breast and Cervical Cancer Treatment Program (which is administered by AHCCCS). In the past, only women diagnosed through Well Woman HealthCheck were able to access treatment through the Program. The American Cancer [...]
Booster seats dramatically lower the risk of suffering internal damage, serious spinal injury or worse for kids between 5 and 8 years old. In fact, 100% of kids ages 5-8, who were killed in Arizona car crashes in 2010 weren’t restrained in a booster seat. For years, the AZ's Child Fatality Review Team recommended a booster seat [...]
Our Quality Management Operations shop inside behavioral health has an incredibly complicated and important mission. They have responsibility for regulating and managing Information Management; Performance Improvement; Medical Management; and Quality of Care Monitoring and Oversight in AZ's public behavioral health system. These 4 critical areas work together to develop and implement a system of continuous quality improvement by establishing [...]
The AZ Developmental Disability Planning Council is proud to announce an exciting new grant opportunity for organizations that want to help folks with developmental disabilities and their families develop their own cottage industry food business. The initiative is tied to one of our primary goals on the Council: to help folks with developmental disabilities to [...]
For about four hours this morning, balls were hopping in the bingo machine as we randomly chose one dispensary for each of the 68 competitive districts. All the drawings are online for you to watch - there were 404 applications considered in the 68 drawings. There were also 29 CHAAs where there was only one [...]
Now that the Supreme Court has spoken regarding the Affordable Care Act- States have a lot more clarity around the decisions they'll need to make and what they need to do to implement the law. The Governor kicked off a process to review the options and engage Stakeholders for their input this week. Additional meetings are being scheduled in the coming [...]
The AZ Attorney General issued an Opinion and a media release this afternoon about the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act. The Opinion states, in part, that the voter approved Act is pre-empted by Federal Law – specifically the part that allows the cultivation, selling or distribution of marijuana. It references 2 recent court cases that states [...]
The first week of August is World Breastfeeding Week and it has been for 20 years. This year’s theme is The Road to Lifelong Health Begins with Breastfeeding. Those long-term benefits apply to both mothers and babies. When babies are fed human milk, they are more likely to avoid obesity, less likely to die from [...]
Thanks for your patience as we developed our continuity plan for leadership in our Division of Behavioral Health. I know you’re all anxious to hear the transition plan for after Dr. Nelson leaves on August 24. Fortunately, we are very lucky to have so many strong leaders here at the agency, including a really great [...]
