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Many people
across the state are working to proactively shape the future of our
health system including undertaking important activities to improve the
health payment system, strategically plan for a
future health workforce, implementing statewide
use of health information technology and
planning for the health benefits exchange.
You can find more
information here.
A vision for a better
Arkansas Health System has been developed and
serves as a guide for this work.
Click here
to watch a short video depicting this vision.
Health Workforce Strategic Plan Delivered to Governor Mike
Beebe
April 20,
2012—Arkansas’s first-ever strategic plan for
our health workforce was delivered to Governor
Mike Beebe today.
The plan is
the culmination of nearly a year of work by a
24-member core workgroup co-chaired by UAMS
Chancellor Dan Rahn and State Health Director
Paul Halverson, and staffed by the Arkansas
Center for Health Improvement.
It was
developed as a collaborative effort with
significant input from a wide array of
stakeholders across the state.
The
Arkansas
Health Workforce Strategic Plan
provides a
roadmap for addressing the critical shortage and
maldistribution of health care services in our
state detailed in the plan.
It will serve
as a complement to and a catalyst for other
ongoing health system improvement efforts being
led by Arkansas Surgeon General Dr. Joe Thompson
at Governor Beebe's request.
Mercy
Medical Group President, Thomas Hale M.D. made
the following comment:
"Mercy is proud and
excited to be associated with the Arkansas
Health Workforce Plan. This plan places
Arkansas in a very unique position of providing
increased access to high quality and coordinated
care for its citizens. Through the use of
technology, telemedicine and teamed based care,
a model of care delivery that Mercy has built,
utilizes and firmly believes in, the State of
Arkansas will be providing leadership for the
rest of the country on how to solve our health
care financial crisis without sacrificing access
to quality care. Mercy supports this plan
and looks forward to servicing its directives
through Mercy model of care in the future."
Here's the news release.
Key aspects of both our
Workforce
Strategic Plan
and
Payment System
Improvement
efforts will be accelerated as a result of our
participation in the Centers for Medicare and
Medicaid Services Innovation Center's
Comprehensive Primary Care Initiative (CPCI)
discussed below.
Arkansas Among Seven Areas
Selected for Medicare Initiative
April 12, 2012—The Centers for Medicare and
Medicaid Services Innovation Center announced yesterday that the state of
Arkansas was one of only seven geographic markets in the country chosen
to participate in a major initiative to help physicians better care for
patients with chronic diseases and complex illnesses.
“Transitioning to patient centered care is a major cornerstone in the
state’s health system improvement efforts. This federal support will give
our efforts a big boost and will result in better care for Arkansans,”
said Arkansas Surgeon General Dr. Joe Thompson.
Read the full release.
A March 14, 2012 news
article by the Associated Press,
Arkansas children with mental illnesses may be
able to get virtual checkups starting in May,
shows that part of our vision is
not only possible, but beginning to be put into
action by the Arkansas Department of Human
Services (DHS). The agency has proposed a
plan that will use telemedicine services to help
young people under the age of 21 who have mental
illnesses.
Currently, 69 of
Arkansas's 75 counties are designated by the
Health Resources and Services Administration as
having a shortage of mental health
professionals. The ADH plan, which will
require a state Medicaid rule change, will use
video conferencing and distance education to
help reduce travel times and increase access to
mental health services for people living in
these underserved areas of the state.
DHS officials hope to
receive approval by the Administrative Rules and
Regulations Committee in time for a mid-May
launch. Once implemented, the plan will
permit health care providers who are connected
to the Arkansas Telehealth Network and who meet
screen size, bandwidth and framerate benchmarks
to connect with their patients virtually to
provide needed mental health services.
Archives
Despite Industry
Promises, Yale Study Finds Unprecedented
Marketing of Sugary Drinks to Youth
Arkansas Surgeon
General, Dr. Joe Thompson, to host Summit -- Building a Better Arkansas Health System for the
21st Century
New Tool Kit
Available for Local Officials from Let's Move
Cities & Towns
Diabetes kills
one person every seven seconds
Dr. Thompson and
Arkansas Education Commissioner, Dr. Tom Kimbrell, Celebrate Successful Joint Use
Agreement Projects
Lavaca School
District FIRST Arkansas USDA Healthier US
Challenge, NATIONAL BRONZE AWARD SCHOOL (May 4,
2011)
Governor Mike
Beebe Signs New Law Protecting
Children Under Age 14 From Secondhand Smoke
While Riding in Vehicles
Health Care Providers
Discuss Medicaid Cost Saving Measures
Arkansas Tobacco
Settlement Commission Awards Child Wellness
Intervention
Grants to Schools
Dr. Thompson
Joins Forces with Arkansas Coalition for Obesity
Prevention to Discuss Obesity Prevention with
Arkansas Mayors
Center for
Studying Health Systems Change Releases New
Report
Arkansas Tobacco
Settlement Commission Now Taking Applications
For School Grants
National Childhood Obesity
Awareness Month Celebrated with Focus on Physical Activity
Arkansas Coalition for
Obesity Prevention (ArCOP) Now Accepting
Applications for Growing Healthy Communities
Grants
ACHI Director, Dr. Joe
Thompson, participates in panel discussion with
American Cancer Society Mid-South Division
ACHI Executive
Associate Director Named Assistant Dean at UAMS
College of Public Health
Arkansas Minority
Health Summit Includes Former U.S. Surgeons
General
U.S. Surgeon
General, Dr. Regina Benjamin, Visits ACHI
Dr. Joe Thompson Blogs
About the Recent White House Obesity Summit on
EquityBlog.
Arkansas Baptist College
Hosts Minority Health Month and Public Health
Week News Conference
North Little Rock
Celebrates Public Health Week at Location of New Argenta Market
Delta
Garden Study Breaks Ground
Arkansas Tobacco
Settlement Commission Joins the Movement to
Reverse Childhood Obesity
ACHI Director Appears on C-SPAN's Washington
Journal.
State Coverage
Initiatives Reports Release of New Brief On
Impact of
Health Reform on States
Michelle Obama to Fight
Child Obesity at Grass Roots
Boone
and Newton Counties Receive One of 41 Community
Grants From the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities
Initiative.
Arkansas to Participate in
Safe Routes to School National Partnership's
2010-2011 State Network Project
ACHI Honors Long-Time
Friends and Welcomes New Annual Sponsor During
Annual Holiday Party
Senator
Blanche Lincoln Discusses Health Care
Reform with Governor's
Roundtable
on Health Care
ACHI's Robert Wood
Johnson Foundation Center to Prevent Childhood
Obesity
Hosts
Healthy Kids, Healthy Nation: Reversing
the Childhood Obesity Epidemic
by 2015
ACHI Releases New Report:
The Impact of National Health Care Reform on
Arkansas
Robert Wood Johnson
Foundation Center to Prevent Childhood Obesity
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