Regular Screening Can Help Prevent Cancer
National Cancer Prevention Month is highlighted during the month of February, but preventing cancer is something that should become a part of daily lives because there are many effective prevention methods related to certain cancers. Cervical cancer was once a leading cause of cancer related deaths for women in the United States, but due to screenings like the Pap test, [...]
Taking Care of your Heart Should be a Year-Round Activity
Our Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention Program, in the Bureau of Tobacco & Chronic Disease, encourages everyone to make every month heart month. During one of the most visible months we wanted to focus on a not-so-visible threat, hypertension. Also known as high blood pressure, this is a major risk factor for heart disease; the number one cause of death [...]
State Loan Repayment Program Launching Electronic Application System
The State Loan Repayment Program (SLRP) is launching its electronic application system that will improve efficiency in the program. Through the program’s continuous quality improvement (CQI) efforts, we recognized that the SLRP paper application is unclear, outdated, and inefficient. For instance, the paper application often results to an incomplete or deficient application and increased phone calls to the program. In the last [...]
Updating Healthcare Partners on the State of Infectious Disease in Arizona
On January 19th, our Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAI) program collaborated with the local Grand Canyon Chapter of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) in hosting their annual State of the State meeting. Around 50 infection preventionists and other state partners attended the event, which was held at the Health Services Advisory Group in Phoenix. This annual presentation is dedicated to educating partners on the [...]
Reported Influenza Cases Reach H1N1 Pandemic Level
If you haven’t been vaccinated, protect yourself by getting your flu shot today. Just like putting on your seat belt, getting vaccinated can save you a trip to the hospital. If you or your children are sick with influenza, take precautions like staying home when you’re sick and covering your nose and mouth when coughing and sneezing. In addition to getting vaccinated, [...]
2015 Healthcare-Associated Infection Data Report Releases
Last week, the CDC released the National and State Healthcare-associated Infection Data Report for 2015 National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) data. The National Healthcare Safety Network is the nation’s most widely used Healthcare Associated Infections (HAI) tracking system and is being used for care improvement by facilities, states, regions, quality groups, and national public health agencies including CDC. The annual report uses the [...]