General Resources about Quality of Care:

Being an Informed Patient

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)

Questions to ask your doctor and other tips.

https://www.ahrq.gov/patients-consumers/patient-involvement/ask-your-doctor/index.html

Choosing Wisely

A doctor-supported website that lists tests and procedures that you may not need.

https://www.choosingwisely.org/

Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care

A research and policy oriented website that documents the variations in health care nationwide. Sophisticated users will find a wealth of information about how communities and hospitals vary on many measures of performance.

https://www.dartmouthatlas.org

A good overview is found on Topic Brief on Effective Care [pdf].


The Joint Commission

Information from the national organization that reviews quality in the nation's hospitals and other health settings. Site provides guides to choosing health care organizations. Also includes Speak Up resources-a program that has videos and other information about patient safety and patient rights.

https://www.jointcommission.org/general_public.aspx

National Institutes of Health

Resources about talking to your doctor.

https://www.nih.gov/clearcommunication/talktoyourdoctor.htm

National Quality Forum

Link to an entertaining short video that describes what health care quality measures are and why they're important.

https://www.qualityforum.org/Quality_Resources_-_Membership.aspx

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Caregiving

Next Steps in Care

Provides easy-to-use guides to help family caregivers plan and implement health transitions (such as from a hospital to home or hospital to a rehab facility).

https://www.nextstepincare.org/

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Drug Safety

Consumermedsafety.org

Resources to help prevent medication errors sponsored by the non-profit Institute for Safe Medication Practices.

https://www.consumermedsafety.org

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Exploring Treatment Options

Effective Health Care Program

A website that helps you explore your treatment options.

https://www.effectivehealthcare.ahrq.gov/

Medline Plus

Consumer website from the federal National Institutes of Health that provides info on over 900 diseases and conditions.

https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/

Patient Decision Aids

List of decision aids by health topic compiled by Ottawa Research Institute.

https://decisionaid.ohri.ca/AZlist.html

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Health Information Technology (HIT)/Privacy/Security

HealthIT.gov

The "For Individuals" section of this federal site includes useful information on the basics of health information technology (health IT), types of IT and protecting your privacy and security.

https://www.healthit.gov/

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Patient Safety

The Care Partner Project

A consumer site that includes a wide variety of information about patient safety such as infections and medical errors. Includes safety checklists and other resources.

https://thecarepartnerproject.org

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

Provides information on ten things you can do to be a safe patient.

https://www.cdc.gov/hai/patientsafety/patient-safety.html

The Empowered Patient Coalition

A consumer site that provides a variety of factsheets, checklists and other resources about patient safety and medical decision making.

https://empoweredpatientcoalition.org/

Patient Safety Action Network

A coalition of individuals and organizations working to raise awareness about patient harm

https://www.patientsafetyaction.org/

ProPublica Patient Safety

A site by journalists who work in the public interest. Provides a variety of stories, tools and access to an online community of patients and others who have experienced patient harm or are interested in the topic.

https://www.propublica.org/series/patient-safety
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Page last updated: July 2021