Quality of Care Organizations
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)
AHRQ is a free of charge, public national database which receives its data from the state government licensing board. The specific options available on the website include:
-Clinical information, such as effective health care, preventive services, and clinical practice guidelines
-Funding opportunities
-Research findings
-Specific population information
-Public health preparedness
-Consumer and patient information
-Data and surveys
-Quality and Patient Safety
Center for Medical Consumers
The Center for Medical Consumers focuses on both national and statewide attempts at better healthcare. It is a non-profit advocacy organization that receives its funds from private donators and subscriptions from newsletters. It is also supported by the Judson Memorial Church. The website contains many helpful articles concerning patient safety.
Health Care Choices
http://www.healthcarechoices.org/
Health Care Choices is a non-profit organization based in New York. It educates the public about the current health care system. On the website there is a large section concerning different kinds of cancer, hospital and physician information, and hospital report cards.
Health Care For All’s Consumer Health Quality Council
http://www.hcfama.org/consumercouncil/
The Consumer Health Quality Council is a coalition of Health Care For All, a Massachusetts consumer health advocacy organization. The Consumer Council empowers those impacted by health care quality issues to have a voice in our health care system, to engage fellow consumers to be active partners in their health care and to advocate for high quality, safe, and accessible health care for all Massachusetts residents. Consumer Council members work on a variety of projects focusing on education and advocacy and convene monthly to discuss issues relating to health care quality.
Consumer and Patient Health Information Section (CAPHIS) of the MLA
The Consumer and Patient Health Information Section (CAPHIS) of the MLA, or Medical Library Assocition, evaluates web sites based on the following criteria: credibility, sponsorship/authorship, content, audience, currency, disclosure, purpose, links, design, interactivity, and disclaimers. The MLA fosters excellence in the professional achievement and leadership of health sciences library and information professionals to enhance the quality of health care, education, and research. This is a great directory for specific research and ewducation needs, as they keep an updated list of the “Top 100″ health websites and there are many subcatgory list options, ranging from men or women’s health to parenting and kids to senior health and so on.
Health Grades
HealthGrades consists of many rated and profiled hospitals, nursing homes, physicians, consumers, corporations, and health plans. The website features two separate search engines for hospitals and physicians.
LeapFrog Group
http://www.leapfroggroup.org/about_us/
The Leapfrog Group is a voluntary program that strives to enforce leaps and improvements in the quality of healthcare in the United States. Another initiative of Leapfrog is to praise and reward those organizations who have exemplified such noteworthy behavior. The Leapfrog website has a different section each for consumers, members, hospitals, and data partners, with a main division that explains the mission and initiatives, and lists members, staff, and board.
National Association for Healthcare Quality (NAHQ)
The website of the National Association for Healthcare Quality (NAHQ), an organization for healthcare professionals, provides:
-publications
-information on the Journal for Healthcare Quality
-NAHQ plus
-affiliated organizations
-Job Mart
National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA)
The site for the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) provides information on accreditation programs, along with publication and products, and education and events. There are articles based on assorted healthcare topics.
National Quality Forum
The National Quality Forum is private and nonprofit, and measures healthcare quality in the country. The website includes an area to browse healthcare topics, opportunities for members, and publications.
Premier Safety Institute, Inc.
http://www.premierinc.com/safety/
The website of Premier, Inc. provides resources for both patients and healthcare professionals. One can access the electronic newsletter, the online store, and view public health updates.