According to the Ohio Revised Code (R.C. 3701.742) ODH is required to adjust the fee table for medical records according to the annual consumer price index for all urban areas (CPI-U) for the preceding year as published by the US Department of Labor.

Ohio HB 143 of the 129th General Assembly created the Return-To-Play Law that aims to educate student athletes, coaches and parents about the risk of concussions.

ODH has created concussion and head injury information sheets for participants in interscholastic activities and youth sports. Click here for FAQs and fact sheets.

The Ohio Department of Health tracks flu activity across the state. So far this season, the number of flu-related hospitalizations is significantly higher than it was at this time last year and the preceding year.

Flu.Ohio.Gov is our site dedicated to flu data and information on preventing the spread of flu.

The Ohio Department of Health (ODH) will be using the 2013-2014 Strategic Plan to clearly define its role as one of many vital partners that form an effective public health system for our state, for today and into the future. This plan allows us to focus our efforts and identify our priorities; it is not meant to be an exhaustive list of the work to be done, rather it will reflect our priorities in focusing our work and developing future budgets.

The ODH Strategic Plan has as its foundation the State Health Assessment and the State Health Improvement Plan, as well as the various national guidelines. ODH also felt it important to include
ongoing stakeholder engagement as an essential component of its planning process. Therefore, extensive “focus group” conversations with key internal and external stakeholders were conducted
to assess perceptions of ODH’s strengths and challenges, and to gauge support for potential strategic priorities. Together these sources of information have provided the foundation for our strategic priorities for the next 24 months.

Read the ODH Strategic Plan.

The Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) reports that in 2009, a quarter of all drug-related emergency department (ED) visits and over half of ED visits for drug abuse or misuse (an estimated 1,079,683 visits) involved the nonmedical use of prescription drugs, over-the-counter medicines, or other types of pharmaceuticals.

These guidelines are intended to help emergency and other acute care facilities reduce the inappropriate use of opioids and other controlled substances while preserving their vital role of treating patients with emergent medical conditions.

Click here to read more.