Healthcare Associated Infections
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 healthcare associated infections in our [...]
Improving Behavioral Health Outcomes
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 this unacceptable health disparity when [...]
Electronic Child Care Renewal Utility Goes Live
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 an e-Licensing portal, so it [...]
Updated EMS Rules Finalized
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 to carry additional medications they [...]
Regulatory Reform
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 treatment centers, adult day health [...]
Electronic Midwife Reporting Utility Goes Live
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 a secure online, password-protected application [...]