Vaccine Financing and Availability Advisory Committee Report
Childhood immunizations are widely credited as one of the top ten public health achievements of the 20th century. For the 13 diseases included on the current U.S. childhood immunization schedule, 20 million cases of disease are prevented per year, 42,000 lives are saved, and the healthcare system realizes $13.6 million in direct medical costs (see the study here). Unfortunately, due [...]
Mission of Mercy Starts Friday
Good oral health is critical to a person’s overall health. Tooth decay and gum disease are linked with heart disease, stroke and diabetes, and premature births. Many people in our community can’t afford dental care, so they suffer from poor oral health that affects their ability to speak, smile, smell, taste, touch and eat. That’s why the Central Arizona Dental [...]
Administrative Judge Recommends Approving New Ambulance Service Application
Late Monday, an Administrative Law Judge issued an Order recommending that I approve American Medical Response of Maricopa’s (AMR) application to operate ambulances (certificate of necessity or CON) in all of Maricopa County. We regulate ambulance services differently than most states. In order to operate an ambulance here the applicant needs to meet a number of requirements including demonstrating that: [...]
Community Paramedicine Legal Analysis Report
Community Integrated Paramedicine programs are coming together in two primary business models in Arizona. The first one has EMS (emergency medical services) agencies partnering with hospitals to reduce the frequency that patients are re-admitted to hospitals. In the second, EMS agencies are cultivating social service referrals to reduce the frequency that folks use emergency departments for non-emergency events. Community Integrated [...]
U of A Health Network Steps Up
The University of Arizona Health Network joined the Maricopa Integrated Health System last week by committing to become an Infectious Disease Treatment Center of Excellence. By recognizing MIHS and UAHN as Infectious Disease Treatment Centers of Excellence, Arizona will be better able to: 1) develop a seamless infectious disease response plan as new infectious diseases emerge; 2) ensure smooth patient transport [...]
2013 Arizona Health Status and Vital Statistics Report
Last week we published our Agency’s most popular annual report. It’s called the 2013 Arizona Health Status and Vital Statistics Report. Last year’s version got 2,000,000 hits! It gives our most granular public health information of the year including refined health statistics on pregnancies, births, reportable diseases, deaths, inpatient hospitalizations, emergency room visits, marriages, divorces and population for Arizona. The [...]