Safety’s No Accident
For some reason human nature drives us to fear unknown, strange, and seemingly unpredictable hazards more than the commonplace hazards that we face day to day, even though the everyday hazards are a far more important public health risk. Accidents and injuries are a good example. Accidents and injuries are hands-down the number 1 killer of people under 44 years [...]
Health Homes Planning Grant Approved
Last week I wrote about how we and AHCCCS applied for a Health Homes Planning Grant from the US Dept. of Health & Human Services to improve the health status of folks with serious mental illnesses by improving case management, care coordination, health promotion, transitional care, individual and family support, referral to necessary services, and the use of health information technology. HHS [...]
Open Letter to Arizona Physicians on Medical Marijuana
Laura Nelson, M.D.. Chief Medical Officer, Arizona Department of Health Services Will Humble, Director, Arizona Department of Health ServicesThank you for your interest in the effective implementation of the AZ Medical Marijuana Act. We realize that many Arizona physicians may not yet feel comfortable with or fully informed about medicinal marijuana. It is likely that some of your patients will [...]
Trace Levels of Iodine-131 found in AZ Milk
Last week I wrote about how Arizona Radiation Regulatory Agency (ARRA) instruments detected trace levels of Iodine-131 in AZ air from the troubled nuclear power plant in Japan. This week testing by ARRA and the AZ Dept. of Agriculture found trace levels of I-131 in the milk samples that they routinely monitor. The levels are of no public health consequence (they’re thousands of [...]
Health Homes Planning Grant
Awhile back the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services released preliminary guidance to state Medicaid agencies (AHCCCS) regarding a new federal funding opportunity to coordinate and integrate primary, acute, behavioral health, and long term supports for folks with chronic illnesses. The guidance encouraged state Medicaid agencies to work with partners to provide technical assistance for quality home and community-based services, [...]
Death Certificates In-House Now
Lots of people know that our Office of Vital Records is the statewide data hub for birth certificates, but we’re also in charge of death certificates. The program we use for death certificates is called the “Vital Statistics Information Management System”. The system used to be supported by a contractor in Utah, but no more. We set a goal a [...]