AZ Teen Birth Rate Drops 30% in 5 Years
I’ve often blogged about why teen pregnancy is an important Arizona winnable battle and why it’s a key public health indicator. Having a baby as a teenager impacts the mom, the dad, the baby and the whole community. Teen parents often don’t finish high school which, in turn, reduces their ability to financially take care of their newborn and results [...]
1920 ADHS Annual Report
With our Annual Report coming up soon, I was surfing the web to get some ideas last night and ran across our 1920 ADHS Annual Report. Call me a public health geek, but I couldn’t put my iPad down. The Annual Report covers our agency activities that year- things like our new (1919) Midwifery regulations, an STD report (from the [...]
American Indian Healthcare Matrix (Part IV)
So far in this series, we’ve covered the Indian Health Service, the ”638’s” administered by tribes and tribal organizations, and Medicare, Medicaid, and Children’s Health Insurance Plan. This week focuses on the Affordable Care Act & the Indian Healthcare Improvement Act. American Indians wishing to buy health insurance in the Health Insurance Marketplace won’t need to pay out-of-pocket costs (like [...]
ADHS Turns the Key On Electronic EMT & Paramedic Certification System
One of our top Strategic Map objectives is to improve access to our services by leveraging technology. We took a great leap forward in that area when our new On-Line EMCT Certification went live this week. The new electronic certification system allows Arizona’s 10,000 Emergency Medical Technicians and Paramedics to apply for and renew their certificate on-line. We’ll continue to process [...]
Wildfire Season Kicks Off
The first big fire of the season started this week in Oak Creek Canyon- called the Slide fire. Smoke is usually the first public health impact from wildland fires. The air quality in Flagstaff and Sedona has been generally OK- but poor at times depending on the winds (smoke levels in Sedona have been high during the early morning hours [...]
What’s Deep Vein Thrombosis?
More than 300 million people travel on long-distance airline flights each year. Almost everybody does fine on a long flight- but something called deep vein thrombosis can be a serious risk for some long-distance travelers. Anyone traveling more than four hours, whether by air, car, bus, or train, can be at risk for blood clots like these. Blood clots can [...]