Maternal Child Health Block Grant Public Comment Period Now Open

Let your voice be heard!

Help us improve the health of Utah’s:

Women

Mothers

Infants

Children

Adolescents

Children and youth with special health care needs

Families

Comments will be accepted from:

April 19 - May 15, 2012

Public input is a valued part of the annual Federal Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Block Grant application process. Please take a few minutes to review the proposed MCH program activities for FY2013 and provide your ideas, comments, or concerns.

We thank you for your time and support!

Please visit the following website:

www.health.utah.gov/mch/mchblock.php

Getting to Know and Communicate Effectively with the Hispanic Community in Utah

Join the Tobacco Prevention & Control Program Telehealth Series

Getting to Know the Communicate Effectively with the Hispanic Community in Utah Telehealth Series

April 25, 2012 from 12:00 to 1:00 pm

Webcast site: http://www.utahtelehealth.net/education/tobacco.html

For more information contact:
Miguel Silva masilva@utah.gov or 801.538.6533
Utah Telehealth Network Customer Support: 801.585.2426

Sponsored by:
UDOH Tobacco Prevention & Control Program
Centro Hispano Strengthening Communities | Respira Utah

Utah Farmworker Program Is Hiring!

Job: Case Manager: Assist Migrant & Seasonal Farmworkers with education, training, and employment services.

Tasks: Outreach, fill out long applications, training and coordinate services with agencies, employers, farmers, and Farmworkers.

Requirements: Must care about people and be willing to do whatever it takes to help, bilingual Spanish/English, computer literate, work a flexible work schedule (sometimes days, sometimes evenings, sometimes weekends, and up to 11 multiple-day trips per year, and long distance driving 2 to 4 days per week), work well with a variety of people, follow rules and regulations, meet deadlines, follow directions, good organizational skills. Successful applicants must: pass a background screening, have a good driving history, have your own car, and be over 21 to meet insurance requirements.

Desired: Farmworker experience and knowledge, general office skills, patient, flexible, dependable, people-person,detail oriented, self motivated, compassionate, good presentation skills, able to learn quickly and work without supervision. 

Want to make a difference in this world? You can get paid to make people's lives better, and every day that you go to work, you have the opportunity to make a difference.

This is a part-time, temporary position with potential for transition into full-time, permanent employment for the right person.

Send resume, cover letter, & 3 references to:

Corrie

Futures Through Training - An Equal Opportunity Employer

1140 36th St #150

Ogden, Utah 84403

Deadline: Noon on 4/24/

AHRQ Launches Regional Partnership Development Initiative to Promote Patient-Centered Outcomes Research

The Federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) recently launched efforts to promote patient-centered outcomes research (PCOR) in patient and professional communities in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. territories. AHRQ has established five Regional Partnership Development Offices that are cultivating sustainable partnerships with hospitals and health systems, patient advocacy organizations, businesses, and other groups that serve clinicians, consumers and policymakers. You’re invited to learn more about PCOR and to partner with AHRQ by using and encouraging others to use free PCOR reports and materials, which support efforts to improve the quality of health care in communities.

What is patient-centered outcomes research? PCOR, also known as comparative effectiveness research, provides information that helps clinicians and patients work together to treat an illness or condition. PCOR compares drugs, medical devices, tests, surgeries, or ways to deliver health care. The research findings don’t tell clinicians how to practice medicine or which treatment is best, but theyprovide evidence-based information on the effectiveness and risks of different treatments. Clinicians and patients can use this information to make informed treatment decisions based on each individual’s circumstances.

AHRQ’s Effective Health Care Program works with researchers, research centers, and academic organizations to conduct the research and focuses on 14 priority health conditions, including: cardiovascular and related diseases, diabetes, arthritis, mental health disorders, and pregnancy. The full research reports are made available, and findings are translated into practical patient and clinician materials, that include:

·         Patient Guides (English and Spanish)

·         Clinician Guides

·         Executive Summaries

·         Faculty Slides

·         CME/CE Modules

·         Podcasts

Findings from patient-centered outcomes research can be helpful to everyone participating in health care decision-making:

Patients are often faced with complicated decisions, such as which test is best, which medicine will help most with the least side effects, or whether surgery is the best option. Every patient is different, and each should make informed choices based on individual needs. By providing Effective Health Care Program products that summarize evidence-based, patient-centered outcomes research findings, you can help patients work with their health care professionals to make a more informed decision among many treatment options.

Healthcare professionals use PCOR to keep current on comparisons of medications and treatments. The products developed by the Effective Health Care Program help distill the information so health professionals and consumers can review treatment options together. When research is not available to answer clinical questions, AHRQ publications highlight research gaps.

Policymakers, business leaders, and others want to make health care policy decisions based on reliable, objective information about effectiveness. Patient-centered outcomes research helps decision makers plan evidence-based public health programs.

To learn more about PCOR, order free materials, access our free continuing education modules or to become part of this growing partnership network, please contact Kate Stabrawa in AHRQ’s Denver Regional Partnership Development Office at 303-382-2444 or kate.stabrawa@ahrq.hhs.gov. You can also learn more about patient-centered outcomes research by visiting www.effectivehealthcare.ahrq.gov.

State Agencies Investigating Data Breach

(Salt Lake City, UT) - The Utah Department of Technology Services (DTS) notified the Utah Department of Health (UDOH) Monday evening of an information breach on a DTS server that houses Medicaid claims.  The initial breach appears to have taken place on Friday, March 30.  During the breach, information was accessed from approximately 24,000 claims. 

 

DTS is investigating to determine how many individual Medicaid clients may have been affected, and what personal information may have been compromised.  Typically, claims stored on servers like the one that experienced the breach could include client names, addresses, birth dates, Social Security numbers, physician's names, national provider identifiers, addresses, tax identification numbers, and procedure codes designed for billing purposes.     

DTS had recently moved the claims records to a new server, and hackers believed to be operating out of Eastern Europe were able to circumvent the server's multi-layered security system.  The affected server has been shut down, and new security measures have since been implemented.  The agency takes such attacks by thieves seriously and is cooperating with law enforcement in a criminal investigation. 

DTS is reviewing every server in the state to ensure proper security measures are in place.  DTS has a layered security defense with multiple stages of security to defend against attacks and the agency is reviewing all policies and procedures to ensure effective security. 

DTS is conducting an investigation to identify individual Medicaid clients and providers whose protected information may have been accessed.  It is UDOH's priority at this time to notify and assist those individuals.  In the meantime, the UDOH is advising all Medicaid clients to monitor their credit and to keep a close eye on their bank accounts. 

The UDOH will send letters by mail to individual clients who had their personal information accessed with information to assist in protecting them from potential harm.  Additionally, those clients whose Social Security numbers were compromised will receive free credit monitoring services. 

Concerned Medicaid clients can also visit www.health.utah.gov or call 1-800-662-9651 to get more information on additional free resources individuals can take advantage of to protect their credit and their personal information.

Utah Public Health Association Message

It’s National Public Health Week! Join the Utah Public Health Association as we celebrate and promote public health all week long. You can help by raising awareness of prevention and wellness in your community and sharing the messages through Facebook, Twitter, email and good old-fashioned face-to-face conversations.

Active Living and Healthy Eating 

Did You Know?

• · Less than 15% of adults and 10% of adolescents eat the recommended amounts of fruits and vegetables each day.
• · More than 2/3 of the adult population is overweight or obese. ~1 in 5 children are overweight or obese by the time they reach their 6th birthday, and over half of obese children became overweight at or before age 2.
• · Physical inactivity is a primary contributor to 1/3 of the adult population being overweight or obese and 1 in 6 children and adolescents being obese.
• · At least 40% of adults and 80% of adolescents do not meet the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans.
• · Healthy eating and physical activity can help prevent a range of chronic diseases, including heart disease, cancer and stroke – the 3 leading causes of death.

What can you do to live a more active and healthier life?

Utah Receives Less than Average Share of Federal Public Health Funding

A new report from the Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation details federal investment in public health on a state-by-state basis and finds that funding for public health and disease prevention programs also vary dramatically from neighborhood to neighborhood, community to community, city to city and state to state. There is little strategic rationale for the differences in funding.  The federal funds are a mixture of population-based formula grant programs, incidence or prevalence based formulas, and a series of competitive grants – where some states receive funding and others do not.  States and localities also place different priorities on public health, which also accounts for differences in funding.

The report shows that Utah receives less than the national average of per capita spending from both federal agencies examined, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Health Resources and Services Administration.

See the full report at: http://healthyamericans.org/assets/files/Investing.pdf