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Healthcare Quality Organizations
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) www.ahrq.gov
AHRQ, a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is the
lead agency charged with supporting research designed to improve the quality
of healthcare, reduce its cost, improve patient safety, decrease medical errors,
and broaden access to essential services. AHRQ sponsors and conducts research that
provides evidence-based information on healthcare outcomes; quality; and cost,
use, and access. The information helps healthcare decisionmakers -- patients
and clinicians, health system leaders, and policymakers -- make more informed
decisions and improve the quality of healthcare services.
Health Care Quality www.consumer.gov/qualityhealth/index.html
This site will help you better understand and use information on health care
quality. You can learn what experts look at when they measure health care
quality, and about "consumer report cards" and other ways to find out how a
particular plan, doctor, or hospital measures up in comparison to others.
In addition, you will find resources to help you use this information to be
a more savvy health care consumer.
Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations
(JCAHO) www.jcaho.org An independent
not-for-profit organization that assesses and reports on the quality and safety
of health care organizations.
National Committee for Quality Assurance www.ncqa.org
A private not-for-profit organization dedicated to assessing and reporting on the quality of managed care plans.
Quality Interagency Coordination (QuIC) Task Force www.quic.gov. The goal of the Quality Interagency Coordination Task Force (QuIC) is to ensure that all Federal agencies that purchase, provide, study, or regulate health care services are working in a coordinated way toward the common goal of improving the quality of care. The QuIC seeks to provide information to help people make choices, to improve the care purchased and delivered by the Government, and to develop the infrastructure needed to improve the health care system.
URAC (also known as the American Accreditation Healthcare Commission)
www.urac.org A non-profit,
charitable organization founded to establish standards for the managed care industry.
U.S. Consumer Gateway: Health www.consumer.gov/health.htm
A 'one-stop link' to a broad range of federal information resources available online.
U.S. News Online www.usnews.com/usnews/nycu/health/hehome.htm
For information, reports, news articles, cover stories about the health insurance industry.
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