Worship Your Skin, Not the Sun

Salt Lake City – This year, more than 600 Utahns – or approximately 12 people every week - will develop skin cancer.  As summer approaches, the Utah Department of Health (UDOH) and Utah Cancer Action Network (UCAN) are reminding Utahns to be safe in the sun by covering up, seeking shade, and avoiding the sun during the hottest time of day.

Utah has the second highest rate of melanoma skin cancer in the country (28.1 per 100,000). People who live in areas with high elevation, warm climates, and where sunlight can be reflected by sand, water, snow, and ice have a greater chance of developing melanoma, the deadliest of all skin cancers.

“The risk of melanoma also increases by overexposure to the sun and the use of indoor tanning beds,” said Teresa Garrett, Division Director, UDOH Disease Control and Prevention. “There are simple ways to protect yourself and your children from skin cancer, like wearing sunscreen with SPF 15 or higher, wearing a wide brim hat, sunglasses, long shorts or pants and shirts with sleeves, and finding shade when you spend time outdoors,” Garrett said.

The UDOH Utah Cancer Control Program (UCCP) will soon be running ads encouraging sun safety in local movie theaters.  The program is also partnering with Salt Lake County Parks and Recreation, Basin Recreation in Summit County, and pro soccer player Chris Wingert, to raise awareness of sun safety. With funding from the Prevent Cancer Foundation, Wingert will talk about sun protection with youth soccer players, their parents, and coaches.

“Over the past couple of years I’ve thought a lot about how unaware most children are of the damage that the sun can cause,” said Wingert.  “I love the sun as much as anyone, so I’m hopeful that by getting involved in a program like this, I can help others become aware of the dangers while still being able to enjoy the outdoors.”

For more information on skin cancer prevention and education, visit http://www.ucan.cc/.

Media Contact:

Sylinda Lee

Media Coordinator

801-538-6829 (o)

435-760-0685 (m)

Utahns with Arthritis: Move More to Feel Better

(Salt Lake City) – In 2009, one in every three (34.8%) Utah adults with arthritis were obese. That’s a 16% increase, up from 29.9% in 2003. According to a report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, obesity prevalence nationwide is 54% higher among adults with arthritis compared to those without arthritis.

“This is an ongoing concern for us,” said Rebecca Castleton, Utah Department of Health (UDOH) Arthritis Program Coordinator. “Arthritis is the number one cause of disability in Utah and physical activity is an essential way to manage symptoms and maintain a healthy weight.”

Although exercise and lifestyle self-management are key to reducing the health impact of arthritis, losing weight can be a complex battle due to joint pain and stiffness that can limit physical activity.

“People with arthritis may have a more difficult time losing weight and exercising, but those are the two best things they can do to improve their symptoms,” said Castleton.

Simple walking can reduce pain, improve function, and promote weight loss. A loss of just 10-12 pounds can make a big difference in quality of life and postpone further disability.  Combined, they can reduce the number of knee replacements and help people with arthritis live longer.

For more information, or to learn more about exercise and other arthritis classes in your area, visit www.health.utah.gov/arthritis or call 801-538-9458. Or contact the Arthritis Foundation at 1-800-444-4993 or http://www.arthritis.org/chapters/utah/.

Media Contact:

Christine Weiss

UDOH Arthritis Program

(o) 801-538-9458 (m) 801-471-8073

New hotline established for data breach information

The Utah Department of Health (UDOH) has established a new hotline for concerned citizens to call for information on the data breach that compromised peoples' personal information.

We would kindly request all media outlets that currently have the original hotline number on web sites or in stories to please update that information with the new hotline number.

The new number is 1-855-238-3339.  The number is toll free, is staffed 24/7, and offers information in English and Spanish.

Many individuals expressed frustration today at not being able to get through to an operator on the original hotline.The new number will be able to handle the higher call volumes we are currently experiencing.

UDOH is working to add a feature to the hotline that will allow individuals to enter their personal information into the phone system and determine if they were among the victims who had their Social Security numbers compromised.Until this functionality can be added, people will still need to speak to a Medicaid representative to determine that information.

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Media Contact:

Tom Hudachko, UDOH Public Information Office

801-538-6232 or 801-560-4649

UDOH Releases Influenza Vaccination Rates of Hospital Healthcare Workers

(Salt Lake City, UT) – A new online report will make it easier for Utahns to find vaccination information about healthcare workers employed in licensed* Utah hospitals. The report was developed by the Utah Department of Health (UDOH) in collaboration with members of the Utah Healthcare Infection Prevention (UHIP) Governance Committee.** This tool will allow Utahns to compare influenza vaccination rates for healthcare workers among licensed hospitals in Utah.

The initial report will list all licensed Utah hospitals, along with their influenza vaccination rates for hospital healthcare workers, for the 2011-2012 influenza season on the UDOH Healthcare Associated Infections website at http://health.utah.gov/epi/HAI/data.html. Thereafter, the influenza vaccination reports will be published annually.

“Increasing influenza vaccination among healthcare workers is an essential part of a comprehensive patient safety program,” said Robert Rolfs, M.D., Deputy Director, UDOH. Unvaccinated healthcare workers are at risk for infection when working with patients who may carry influenza. Most important, if they become sick with influenza acquired at work or elsewhere, they can spread that infection to their patients who
are often the most vulnerable to serious complications of influenza.

Publicly releasing hospital influenza vaccination rates is an important step in creating transparency for healthcare safety and quality in Utah. Influenza vaccination of healthcare personnel is a critical patient safety practice that should be required in all healthcare facilities, unless an organization has achieved a vaccination rate greater than 95 percent by other means. Patients should reasonably expect that they will not contract potentially life-threatening illnesses such as influenza from their healthcare providers while being treated for other conditions.

In November 2007, the UDOH adopted a Healthcare Associated Infections reporting rule (Rule‐386‐705, Epidemiology, Healthcare Associated Infection). This rule requires that hospitals report healthcare worker influenza vaccination rates. Results have shown that healthcare worker influenza vaccination rates in Utah hospitals have consistently increased from 71.7 percent in 2008 to 93.8 percent in 2011.

In April 2011, the UHIP Governance Committee recommended that all healthcare delivery facilities in Utah implement a policy of mandatory annual influenza vaccination for all healthcare personnel. While the Utah hospitals are not required to have mandatory influenza vaccination programs for healthcare workers, some Utah healthcare facilities have such programs in place. Healthcare organizations that do not have an effective healthcare worker influenza vaccination policy in place are strongly encouraged to begin preparations now for the 2012-2013 influenza season.

*Licensed hospitals include: acute care, long-term acute care, critical access, rehabilitation, psychiatric, government and children’s hospitals.

**The Utah Healthcare Infection Prevention Governance Committee is a multi-disciplinary panel of state leaders in patient safety, infectious diseases, and infection control. Membership is comprised from a broad base of care delivery groups across the State and organized under and staffed by the Utah Department of Health.

Visit http://health.utah.gov/epi/HAI/goverance_committee.html for more information about UHIP Governance Committee members.

 

Media Contact:Rebecca L. Ward
(o) 801-538-6681
(c) 801-647-5421

Data Breach Expands to Include More Victims

(Salt Lake City, UT) – The Utah Department of Technology Services (DTS), along with the Utah Department of Health (UDOH) today announced up to 255,000 additional people had their Social Security numbers listed in data stolen by thieves from a computer server last week. These latest victims are people whose information was sent to the state by their health care provider in a transaction called a Medicaid Eligibility Inquiry to determine their status as possible Medicaid recipients.

The victims are likely to be people who have visited a health care provider in the past four months. Some may be Medicaid or CHIP recipients; others are individuals whose health care providers were unsure as to their status as Medicaid recipients.

DTS has started the process of identifying these additional victims, and the state will be sending letters directly to them as they are identified. Some of the 255,000 Social Security numbers were not accompanied by any other indentifying information (such as names and addresses), so DTS will likely need to coordinate with other agencies to identify and notify these individuals.

Victims who had their SSNs stolen will receive one year of free credit monitoring services. There are additional steps anybody can take to help protect their identity and their financial information. This includes placing either a freeze or a fraud alert on their personal credit file with the nation’s three credit bureaus. For information on how to do this, visit http://idtheft.utah.gov.

As many as 350,000 additional people may have had other, less-sensitive information, such as their names, birth dates, and addresses accessed through eligibility inquiries. These people will also receive a letter alerting them to the situation. However, priority will be placed on alerting those who had their Social Security numbers stolen first.

It is now believed that a total of approximately 280,000 victims had their Social Security numbers stolen and approximately 500,000 other victims had less-sensitive personal information stolen.

Possible victims should be aware that nobody from DTS or UDOH will be contacting them and asking for personal information over the phone or via e-email regarding this incident. Scammers may attempt to reach victims in this manner. We strongly recommend that people do not provide private information in response to telephone or e-mail contacts they have not initiated.

The data breach initially occurred on Friday, March 30. A configuration error occurred at the password authentication level, allowing the hacker to circumvent DTS’s security system. DTS has processes in place to ensure the state’s data is secure, but this particular server was not configured according to normal procedure. DTS has identified where the breakdown occurred and has implemented new processes to ensure this type of breach will not happen again.

DTS is cooperating with local law enforcement, as well as the FBI, on a criminal investigation.

Medicaid clients can call 1-855-238-3339 to find out if their information was compromised during the attack. Additional information can also be found online at www.health.utah.gov/databreach.

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Media Contacts:

Tom Hudachko

UDOH Public Information Officer

801-538-6232 / 801-560-4649

Stephanie Weiss

DTS Public Information Officer

801-538-3284