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Surveillance
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Arkansas Reproductive Health Monitoring System
Established
in 1980 as a pilot program, the Arkansas Reproductive
Health Monitoring System (ARHMS) is one of the oldest
active birth defects surveillance systems in the United
States. In 1985, Arkansas State Legislature enacted
legislation that provides ARHMS the authority to operate
a birth defects registry.
ARHMS
monitors and collects data on birth defects throughout
the state. ARHMS supports the activities of
the Arkansas Center for Birth Defects Research and
Prevention by serving as an experienced and timely
data collecting system and reporting prevalence trends
in the state.
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As an
active health surveillance system, ARHMS Health Information
Specialists visit 83 hospitals in Arkansas and regional
hospitals that provide obstetrical or pediatric care
for case identification and abstraction.
All AHRMS
cases are abstracted from hospital records and only
cases diagnosed by physicians are included in the
registry. In addition, ARHMS also detects trends in
birth defects.
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There are many important ways
that birth defect registries
 like ARHMS can help improve the
health
of the public.
- These registries can be used to identify trends in the prevalence
of birth defects as the basis for studies of the causes of
and risk factors for birth defects.
- Trends and clusters of birth defects may be due to factors
such as demographic changes or the introduction of a new teratogen,
which is a substance that causes birth defects.
- Identifying and testing theories about potential risk factors
will lead to a better understanding of the causes of birth
defects and help us to prevent future defects.
To be included as a case in
the ARHMS Registry:
- A child must have a birth defect diagnosed when he or she
is less than age 2.
- The case must be ascertained before the child’s fifth birthday.
- All cases are abstracted from hospital records, and only
diagnoses that have been made by a physician are included
in ARHMS.
Confidentiality Statement
The Arkansas Reproductive Health
Monitoring System (ARHMS) is committed to maintaining optimum
confidentiality standards. The release of identifying health
data verbal or written without proper authorization and/or State
legislative requirement is strictly prohibited. All ARHMS employees
must sign a letter of confidentiality upon hiring and must attend
an inservice regarding confidentiality guidelines. Continuous
quality improvements’ training is provided quarterly to maintain
and educate employee knowledge and compliance with confidentiality
standards. Employees are made aware that they must uphold these
confidentiality standards during and after their employment
with ARHMS.
Pew Commission Report
The activities
of both ARHMS and the Arkansas Center have been nationally recognized
by the Pew Environmental Commission at the Johns Hopkins School
of Public Health. In its report, "Healthy
from the Start: Why America Needs a Better System to Track and
Understand Birth Defects and the Environment." Commission
researchers evaluated each state's system against the Commission's
model criteria and assigned a letter grade from A" to "F"
to each state's system.
Only eight states, including Arkansas,
came close enough to model criteria to achieve the top grade.
All eight are active systems that extend through the first 12
months of life, collect information on stillbirths as well as
live births, and have research capacity. A total of 25 states
received a "B" or "C" and a total of 17
states received an "F".
For more information, visit the Pew Environmental
Commission website: http://pewenvirohealth.jhsph.edu.
For more information
about ARHMS, contact:
Charlotte
Hobbs, M.D., Ph.D., Scientific
Director
Telephone: 501 364-5000 or toll free: 1-877-662-4567
Bridget Mosley, M.P.H.,
Assistant Scientific Director/ARHMS
Telephone: 501 364-5000 or toll free: 1-877-662-4567
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Arkansas
Center for Birth Defects Research and Prevention |
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1120
Marshall Street, Mail Slot 512-40 |
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Little Rock,
Arkansas 72202 |
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1-877-662-4567 toll free |
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