AZ Disease Detective Software Overhaul
Our statewide disease detectives (whose job it is to slow the spread of communicable diseases) need real-time electronic surveillance in order to get the job done. Our I.T. folks and the people in Public Health Preparedness have been working on an upgraded system to help them for the last several months- and our new Medical Electronic Disease Surveillance Intelligence System (MEDSIS) [...]
Sochi Public Health Tips
I know that some of you out there are going to attend the Winter Olympics - so I put together the blog post below over the weekend for folks that might be going. Here goes in case you’re interested: Let’s start with the good news first- then the health tips… Sochi Games to be Smoke Free- Russians are 4th in the world [...]
MERS Update
Back in the fall I mentioned the new SARS-like virus, MERS-CoV, which has been causing severe illness, and sometimes death, mainly in the Arabian Peninsula. Four months ago, 103 cases had been reported worldwide, about half of them fatal. Now, 177 cases have been reported, with 74 deaths. The cases are almost all located in the Arabian Peninsula, with 80% [...]
Behavioral Health Efficiency Moves
This week we’re making 3 efficiency changes in our behavioral health system. Instead of having providers bill us and AHCCCS for different services, all the bills will go to AHCCCS- and we’ll get statements from them. It’ll be the same with enrollment- all paperwork is processed through AHCCCS and we’ll get a standard report that will keep the system up-to-date. The [...]
Historic Arnold vs. Sarn Agreement Reached
The Governor today announced a final agreement has been reached in the Arnold vs. Sarn case regarding care and services for individuals with serious mental illness. Litigation that commenced in 1981, the settlement ends a more than three-decade long lawsuit against the state and establishes a blueprint for a successful community-based behavioral health system in Arizona. You can read more [...]
Combatting Killer Painkillers
Poisoning (including alcohol and prescription drugs) causes more deaths than car crashes in Arizona. A recent report issued by the Trust for America's Health ranked Arizona as having the 6th highest death rate for drug overdose in the country in 2010. Arizona also had one of the highest rates (4th highest at 5.7%) of nonmedical use of prescription pain relievers [...]