Last September the Arizona State Hospital (ASH) was inspected (surveyed) for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The survey team can review over 20 different areas and three were identified that we needed to address: Governing Body, Patient Rights, and Nursing Services. In December, we developed and implemented a Plan of Correction which [...]
Last week we had a visit from CMS (Medicare) to check on our plan of correction from a Survey that was conducted last fall at the Civil Units. Although we won’t get a final report for a while… we do know that Team ASH did a great job during the survey- ensuring that the surveyors [...]
Many of the health disparities in the US are linked to income. In general… the lower a family’s income the greater the prevalence of health disparities. Health impacts from smoking cigarettes are no exception. Arizonans below the poverty line (100% of FPL) are 40% more likely to smoke than those with more money... and about 34% of [...]
I’ve been writing quite a bit about population health and the importance of creating healthy environments for communities. Some of those innovations take creativity and cash to make them work. Help is on the way - today, the feds announced the Healthcare Innovation Awards – Round 2. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services put [...]
A new program is coming to help address infant mortality rates in Arizona thanks to the leadership of Dr. Maria Manriquez and the Maricopa Integrated Health System- who was awarded a Strong Start for Mothers and Newborns grant from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). They’ll be developing enhanced prenatal care at maternity care homes, [...]
No doubt the word “ Sequestration” is front and center in your vocabulary these days. This is just a quick note to forecast how it might impact our mission. For starters… the main impacts from federal sequestration (i.e. the federal budget reduction for some programs) will be related to the services that we provide and [...]
Please join us in encouraging pregnant women and new moms to sign up for Text4baby. Text4baby is a program of the National Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition that provides pregnant women and new moms with information to help them give their babies the best possible start in life. Text4baby is the country’s first free, health education program [...]
Many folks don’t know that our Licensing division undergoes a periodic audit (survey) to look at compliance to our Federal contract with the Centers for Medicare Medicaid Services (CMS). This past week, 3 surveyors from the regional office of CMS came to review our Long Term Care and Medical Facilities areas. This survey centered on [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
