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Health care reform taking shape in Arizona In May, The Business Journal invited seven community leaders from various industries to discuss the problems and the future of our health care [...]

Polling the health care community Question: If you could change the system, what would you do? During the roundtable discussion that starts on page 6C, The Business Journal asked seven [...]

AHCCCS health plans see better times ahead Only five health plans are providing care to more than 130,000 poor and medically indigent in Maricopa County -- a costly and risky [...]

The correct phone number for the Arizona State Health Insurance Assistance Program is 800-432-4040. The Web address is www.de.state.az.us It is a program under the Arizona Department of Economic Security [...]

Phoenix Magazine's April 2001 issue focusing on the Valley's top doctors proved to be a best-seller for the publication's annual feature. The issue sold 38,000 single copies, said Jill Francis, [...]

First Credentialing Quality Assurance has been selected to build the first managed-care network for Arizona's workers' compensation program. Whether doctors decide to participate, however, remains unclear. 'The goal is to [...]

Crystal Torres, 12, Phoenix, was the 100,000th child that KidsCare has enrolled. KidsCare is an affordable health insurance plan for families that earn too much to qualify for the state [...]

Were you surprised to read last week that two-thirds of Arizona's small businesses do not offer health care coverage to their employees? We were. Were you surprised to read that [...]

Two Tenet HealthSystem hospitals were saved from closing at the last minute. Community Hospital Medical Center in Phoenix was sold to Dr. Mark Siegel, who had treated patients at the [...]

Mayo Clinic Scottsdale has been awarded a contract by the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System to be a kidney and pancreas transplant provider for patients in the AHCCCS health [...]

Lifemark Corp., Phoenix, has been awarded a contract to provide long-term care services to two additional Arizona counties: Coconino and Yuma. With this award, Ventana Health Systems, a subsidiary of [...]

The U.S. Census Bureau has reported that almost 25 percent of Arizona's population lacks health care insurance. Nationally, this same agency indicated there were 43.3 million or 16.1 percent of [...]

* November will mark the second annual Blue Jeans for Babies month. Participating companies allow employees to purchase stickers for a donation of $5 to the March of Dimes. Employees [...]

The Arizona Department of Health Services (DHS) has started putting processes into place to regulate the use of medical marijuana once Proposition 203 gets voters approval in the November general election. DHS will allow an estimated 120 medical dispensaries to set up shop in Arizona. Insights on the group who opposes bill are also given.

Dr. Richard Cooper has become a primary proponent for the creation of a boutique cancer center in the proposed Mercy Medical Commons in Gilbert, Arizona. Cooper's Mesa-based Advanced Surgical Associates Ltd. will be joined by Desert Oncology Associates LLP, Arizona Cancer Specialists PLC, and anchor tenant Scottsdale Imaging Ltd. Insights on the growth of specialized cancer treatment in Arizona are also given.

Arizona ranked 36th among US states in health system performance, falling three spots since 2007. The state also ranked 47th on the percent of uninsured children and 43rd for insured adults aged 18-65 years.

John C. Lincoln North Mountain Hospital, Maricopa Medical Center, Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center, Scottsdale Healthcare Osborn and St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center are spending million s o n expansions to keep up with the population boom. Trauma cases in Arizona have risen from 22,260 in 2005 to 37,727 in 2006.

A consortium of three state universities, research institutes and major hospitals in Arizona is aiming to submit a grant proposal worth $30 million to the National Institutes of Health by October 24, 2007. Winner of the research grant will be able to push for medical innovations in the home state. Some of the member insitutions of the Arizona consortium are identified.

For the past three years, Linda Holland-Ojeda has provided medical care to uninsured children at Fowler Elementary School in southwest Phoenix. She wonders if the program will exist three months [...]

Information regarding the campaign by Arizona state health officials to get large businesses to conduct mass small pox vaccinations. Health officials are hopeful that such techniques will reach the majority of the 5 million residents of Arizona.

Access and satisfaction in the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System Introduction The Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) is Arizona's alternative to traditional Medicaid coverage for acute medical [...]

Sixteen hospitals and health systems are working together to help 15,290 people in Arizona obtain health insurance coverage by the end of the year. The Arizona hospitals have joined the [...]

Heart Institute focuses on teaching kids how to eat right The Arizona Heart Institute & Foundation is doing its best to teach children proper nutrition now so that the institute's [...]

Despite the fact that Medicare and most insurance companies don't pay for a popular form of eye surgery, Arizona's eye doctors are seeing a surge of interest in radial keratotomy [...]

CIGNA, Samaritan to sign pact With vows for a mutually beneficial relationship, Arizona's two biggest health care players - Samaritan Health Services and CIGNA Corp. - are renewing their marriage [...]

Health insurance reforms urged A state committee that studied Arizona health insurance for two years is recommending sweeping reforms. The proposed changes would give self-employed individuals and the working poor [...]

Arizona Reduces State Health Care Costs While many states, including California, labor under the burden of skyrocketing health care costs, the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System will return $22.7 [...]

Score one for Arizona's rural doctors. The health maintenance organizations lose. But so do nearly 7,000 seniors in rural Arizona. PacifiCare of Arizona and HealthPartners Health Plans are pulling their [...]

Small-business interests celebrated the defeat of a bill this week that many believed would have hiked their already-burdensome health insurance rates. However, supporters of the bill say they are not [...]

Small-business interests celebrated the defeat of a bill this week that many believed would have hiked their already-burdensome health insurance rates. However, supporters of the bill say they are not [...]

For-profit vs. not-for-profit may be a hotly debated issue among the health-care community, but Arizona consumers really don't care. According to the Seventh Annual Gallup Poll. commissioned by the Arizona [...]

A study by Coopers & Lybrand L.L.P. determined that five Southern California and Arizona counties are doing much better than the national average in holding down costs for Medicare recipients enrolled in health maintenance organizations. The study revealed that the average difference between local costs and the national average for those five counties had dropped to 10%, from 20% in 1992. So-called Medicare risk plans, which use capitation contracts, have a participation rate ranging from 5% in Kings County, NY, to 47% in San Bernardino and Riverside Counties, CA., Five counties where Medicare recipients flock to health maintenance organizations have done better than the national average at controlling Medicare expenses, according to figures from Coopers & Lybrand LLP, Washington. [...]

Take some time out during your summer vacation to get your children immunized. Many childhood diseases -- such as whooping cough, mumps and measles -- are preventable through infant immunizations. [...]

All this talk of health care reform on a national level is scaring lobbyists away from trying to implement health care on a state level at the Legislature next year. [...]

'It'll just pinch a little,' the doctor says as you squirm in the chair, waiting for the monstrous needle to penetrate. Tears squeeze from underneath your clamped eyelids. 'All done,' [...]

Mental-health care coverage is a standard benefit for many of Arizona's big companies despite its cost. Most employers believe the investment is worth their employees' well-being, which affects company productivity. [...]

As health care costs spiral upward and the uninsured and underinsured population continues to grow, the issue of health care reform is stepping toward center stage. Those involved in the [...]

Bench stepping sweeps fitness clubs A new form of aerobic exercise known as bench stepping is taking the Valley's fitness industry by storm. And manufacturers of the platform device used [...]

For years, industry has been trying to persuade hospital administrators to slow doen the zooming cost of health care. Now, it has lost patience and is beginning to use the [...]