Arizona Public Health Association gets National Recognition
Congratulations to Arizona Public Health Association (AzPHA) for gaining national recognition for its work- snagging the 2013 National Affiliate of the Year Award from the American Public Health Association. For 85 years, AzPHA has helped shape public health in Arizona working to create smoke-free environments and access to healthcare. In this year alone, the Arizona affiliate reviewed more than a 1,000 [...]
Next Stop On the Due Process Express
As Cory mentioned in his blog last week, the ADOA recently affirmed our award of the Maricopa County integrated behavioral health services contract to Mercy Maricopa Integrated Care and lifted the Stay on transition activities. The Order from ADOA marked one more step in the process of implementing an integrated care model for folks living with a serious mental illness in Maricopa County. Magellan elected to exercise their right to [...]
Solve the Outbreak 2.0
CDC just updated the free iPad app called Solve the Outbreak... which turns you into a virtual disease detective. The free app now has six newly released outbreaks. Get clues, analyze data and solve the case. Do you quarantine the village? Interview the sick? Do you run more lab tests before you draw conclusions and conduct interventions- or will the extra [...]
Newborn Screening Turn-Around Times
An investigative article published by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel a couple of weeks ago has triggered a state by state assessment of newborn screening programs across the country. Arizona is no exception. Our newborn screening and maternal and child health teams have been reviewing our procedures and looking for ways to improve Arizona’s performance. For example, several Arizona hospitals are under-performing when it [...]
Arizona “Mission of Mercy” Starts Tomorrow
Seems like anytime you hear a 100+ year old person being interviewed about the secret to long life they say “take care of your teeth and feet and drink cod liver oil”. For good reason. 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 [...]
Behavioral Health Contract Update
Our Behavioral Health team is working hard this month keeping up with all the changes and the transition. Check out the Behavioral Health blog for an update.