Big Behavioral Health Procurement in the Books
In mid-December (2014) we awarded contracts for the Northern and Southern regions of the state to Health Choice Integrated Care and Cenpatico Integrated Care. On January 2nd United Healthcare filed a Protest with the ADHS for the award in Southern AZ, requesting an Emergency Stay and Administrative Hearing. On January 21 we denied the Protest. United HealthCare didn’t appeal that denial [...]
Az Health Improvement Plan Paying Dividends
Az Health Improvement Plan Paying Dividends We made progress this week on one of our key Arizona Health Improvement Plan (AzHIP) objectives: To improve access to well care in underserved areas of Arizona. This week the Governor signed Senate Bill 1194 which enhances our State Loan Repayment Program by expanding the types of providers who can receive loan repayment assistance, increasing the award amounts for the [...]
Prevention: A Great Investment
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 [...]
New Ambulance Company Approved to Operate in Maricopa County
A few weeks ago I approved American Medical Response’s (AMR Maricopa) application to operate ambulances in Maricopa County, called a Certificate of Necessity or CON. While I approved the CON (after reviewing a host of evidence presented to an Administrative Law Judge and her Order) I didn’t actually issue the Certificate because of the administrative and due process statutes involved. [...]
Tai Chi Prevents Injury
Before I started working here in ’92 I spent a year backpacking in southern Asia with my now wife (then my girlfriend). Wherever we went in China we’d see seniors in the parks or village squares doing Tai Chi in the morning. In a village it might be a group of a dozen folks, and in the cities you might [...]
EMTALA & Ebola
The Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) is a federal law that requires hospitals that accept Medicare payments to provide emergency healthcare to anybody regardless of citizenship or immigration status or their ability to pay. Under the law, hospitals that accept Medicare payments can’t transfer or discharge patients that need emergency treatment unless there’s informed consent on the [...]







