Administrators In Medicine (AIM) - Public online national physician database whose direct source of data is from the state government licensing board. It is free of charge to the public. DocFinder contains the licensing background and disciplinary information of physicians and other health care practitioners with detailed Medical Malpractice, Hospital Discipline and Criminal Conviction information from Physician Profile Law states.
www.docboard.org
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Center for Quality Improvement & Patient Safety - The Nation's Lead Federal Agency for Research on Health Care Quality, Costs, Outcomes, and Patient Safety
www.ahrq.gov
American Board of Medical Specialties - ABMS maintains a list of all board certified diplomates. Information about a physician's certification status can be obtained by referring to: www.abms.org/login.asp
www.abms.org
American Health Information Management Association - General information on medical records and state statutes regarding patient access
www.ahima.org
American Iatrogenic Association (AIA) - Promoting Accountability for Medical Professionals and Institutions
www.iatrogenic.org
Americans Mad and Angry - Americans Mad and Angry! is a non-profit, non-partisan healthcare consumer activist organization. They provide fact-based information and resources to help people become more knowledgeable about medical errors, hospital acquired infections, other preventable adverse events and the lack of disclosure and accountability in our healthcare system.
www.americansmadandangry.org
Association of Trial Lawyers of America - "Keep our Families Safe: Consumer News for Families"
www.atla.org
California Healthcare Foundation
www.chcf.org
California Institute for Health Systems Performance
www.cihsp.org
California Patient's Guide: Your Health Care Rights and Remedies - Foundation for Taxpayer & Consumer Rights
www.calpatientguide.org
Center for Medical Consumers - Non-profit advocacy organization active in both statewide and national efforts to improve the quality of health care. We are entirely supported by private donations, newsletter subscriptions, and the generous support of the Judson Memorial Church
www.medicalconsumers.org
Center for Patient Partnerships - National resource for strengthening the consumer perspective in health care and building more effective partnerships among patients, providers, and other stakeholders. We advocate change in health care practice and systems, so care is more patient-centered and consumer driven. We are committed to empowering patients as equal partners with health care providers.
www.law.wisc.edu/patientadvocacy/index.html
U.S. Centers for Disease Control
www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dhqp/index.html Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion
www.cdc.gov
Chicago Patient Safety Institute
www.chicagopatientsafety.org
Citizens for Medical Safety - Activists for medical malpractice victims throughout the country who believe that change in healthcare can only be achieved by working through the political process.
www.citizens-for-medical-safety.com
Colorado Patient Safety Coalition
http://www.coloradopatientsafety.org
Committee to Reduce Infection Deaths - A non-profit organization devoted solely to reducing hospital infection rates.
www.hospitalinfection.org
Commonwealth Fund - Private Foundation Supporting Independent Research on Health and Social Issues. April 2002: Study Estimates 8 million American Families Experienced a Serious Medical or Drug Error www.cmwf.org/media/releases/davis534_release04152002.asp
www.cmwf.org
Consumers Advancing Patient Safety - (CAPS) is a consumer-led nonprofit organization formed to be a collective voice for individuals, families and healers who wish to prevent harm in healthcare encounters through partnership and collaboration. CAPS envisions creating a healthcare system that is safe, compassionate and just.
http://www.patientsafety.org/
Department of Defense (DOD), Armed Forces Institute Pathology, Patient Safety Center
www.defenselink.mil, www.afip.org/PSC (Patient Safety Workgroup)
Emergency Care Research Institute (ECRI) - A nonprofit health services research agency and a Collaborating Center of the World Health Organization (WHO).
www.ecri.org
www.mdsr.ecri.org (Medical Device Safety Reports)
Families Advocating Injury Reduction (F.A.I.R.) - Organization dedicated to protecting the rights of consumers and workers; who seek to organize and empower injury victims and their families through advocacy and public policy. In addition to opposing limitations on the legal rights of victims, FAIR is committed to developing and building public support for policies that promote: safer consumer products, safety in the workplace, and better quality health care.
www.tubal.org/FAIR.html
Families USA - Advocates for high-quality, affordable health care
www.familiesusa.org
Floridians for Patient Protection (FPP)
Represents the essence of the spirit found across America for citizens to unite, stand up and protect the rights and responsibilities of all in our democracy. FPP is a proactive organization of medical malpractice and negligence victims and their families striving for justice and change in Florida's medical care system.
www.floridiansforpatientprotection.org
Foundation for Accountability (FACCT)
Not-for-profit organization dedicated to helping Americans make better health care decisions
www.facct.org
Guardian Nurses Healthcare Advocates
Helps consumers make informed decisions about their healthcare choices by guiding them, one-on-one, through the healthcare maze of tests, technology, drugs, referrals and paperwork. Guardian Nurses unique blend of patient education and clinical intervention actually improves patient outcomes while reducing healthcare costs.
www.guardiannurses.com
Georgia Hospital Association, Partnership for Health & Accountability
www.gha.org
Health Activist Courses
Collection of course materials from a number of courses in medical and public health schools around the country that seek to teach students the techniques of research-based health activism
www.citizen.org/hrg/activistcour/index.cfm
Health and Social Campaigners' Network international - The global virtual network for health advocates
www.patient-view.com/hscnetwork.htm
Health Advocacy Program of Study - Sarah Lawrence College offers the nation's only master's degree program in health advocacy
Course Description: www.slc.edu/~health/haprogram.htm
HealthCareCoach.Com - A project of the National Health Law Program (NHeLP), a non-profit legal organization. For more than 30 years, NHeLP has worked to improve access to quality health care, educate consumers about their legal rights and provide information and policy advocacy.
www.healthcarecoach.com
Health Care Choices - New York not-for-profit corporation dedicated to educating the public about the nation's health care system. Their goal is to assist patients, consumers and other purchasers of health care services (such as employers) understand and navigate the complexities of this system. Includes links to physician profiling in numerous states
www.healthcarechoices.org
HealthWeb - Health Data Resources by State
www.healthweb.state.me.us/st_health_res.asp
Healthwise - Focused on one thing--developing consumer health content to help people make health decisions that are right for them. Our writers, editors, and reviewers know that if consumer health content doesn't help a person make a better decision, it doesn't really help. Healthwise is uniquely able to help health plans, hospitals, physicians and clinics, disease management companies, and other organizations empower their constituents.
www.healthwise.org/about.aspx
ImPRESSive - "A media tip sheet for advocates"
www.familiesusa.org/impress.htm
Institute for Healthcare Improvement - Not-for-profit organization created to help lead the improvement of health care systems, to increase continuously their quality and value
www.ihi.org
Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) - Alerts for Patients page containing a listing of frequent medication errors and how to avoid them, general information and advice on medication safety for consumers.
www.ismp.org/Pages/Consumer.html
Institute for Self-Directed Care - Non-profit organization whose mission is to assist all citizens in directing their own healthcare; with a focus on patient safety initiatives and research.
www.selfdirectedcare.org
Institute of Medicine - Part of the National Academy of Sciences; publishers of objective and authoritative information on a variety of health topics.
Patient Safety: www.iom.edu/IOM/IOMHome.nsf/Pages/Quality+Initiative
Institute of Medicine's 1999 Report, "To Err is Human"
http://books.nap.edu/html/to_err_is_human
Institute of Medicine's Report "Crossing the Quality Chasm: A New Health System for the 21st Century" www.nap.edu/catalog/10027.html
www.iom.edu
Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations - Public Access page with information on quality standards for consumers, providers, employers and purchasers.
www.jointcommission.org
Josie King Foundation - Personal story of medical error and online video for medical professionals for training purposes.
http://www.josieking.org/speech.html
Justin's Hope Foundation - Focus on Healthcare Openness, Professionalism and Excellence via education, research and reform. Vision is to promote quality, safe, compassionate, patient and family centered healthcare and resolution of issues around medical errors through full disclosure. In memory of Justin A. Micalizzi who died at the age of 11.
http://www.taskforce.org/justinhope.asp
Kaiser Family Foundation - The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation is an independent philanthropy focusing on the major health care issues facing the nation.
www.kff.org
Harvard School of Public Health and Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation
http://www.kff.org/
Leapfrog Group - Leapfrog initiatives to drive great leaps in patient safety and healthcare quality
www.leapfroggroup.org/safety.htm
Patient Safety Information, Madison Patient Safety Collaborative - Collaborative effort through which area healthcare providers work together to develop and implement solutions designed to improve the quality and safety of patient care provided in the Madison, WI. community.
www.madisonpatientsafety.org
Maryland Patient Safety Organization - This site is provided as a service to the public, health care providers and policy makers who wish to be informed about regional initiatives and developments relating to patient safety.
www.marylandpatientsafety.org
Med Help International - The Patient Medical Information Center - Dedicated to helping patients find the highest quality medical information in the world today. Offering patients the tools necessary to make informed treatment decisions within the short time lines dictated by their illness or disease.
www.medhelp.org
Med-Malpractice - The Speken family shares their story of loss from both the consumer and provider perspectives.
www.med-malpractice.com
Medical Error Reduction.Com
www.medicalerrorreduction.com
Medicare - The Official U.S. Government Site for People with Medicare
www.medicare.gov/default.asp
Medicare's Nursing Home Compare Database - information on every Medicare/Medicaid-certified nursing home in the country, organized by state, county and city www.medicare.gov/Nursing/Overview.asp
Minnesota Alliance for Patient Safety, Minnesota Hospital and Healthcare Partnership
www.mnpatientsafety.org
National Academy for State Health Policy - Non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to helping states achieve excellence in health policy and practice
www.nashp.org
Report on state-based safety centers that have the goal of reducing medical errors
www.nashp.org/Files/final_web_report_11.01.04.pdf
Case Study: An Act to Reduce Medical Errors and Improve Patient Health: A Case Study from Maine, News Brief detailing the chronology of Maine's Patient Safety Legislation
www.nashp.org/Files/Mandatory_reporting_ME.pdf
Quality and Patient Safety, Mandatory Reporting Rules and Statutes listed by State
www.nashp.org/_catdisp_page.cfm?LID=59D44F84-32B5-11D6-BCEA00A0CC558925
National Coalition on Health Care - Non-profit, non-partisan organization comprising almost 96 member groups, including corporations, labor unions, small business, and the nation's major religious, consumer, and health care provider organizations, united in their shared concern about the current state of America's health care.
www.nchc.org
National Institutes of Health - Research your medical condition or disease
www.nih.gov/health
National Patient Safety Foundation
National On Line Fact Sheets & Brochures in Patient Safety www.npsf.org/html/online_resources.html
www.npsf.org
National Quality Forum - Not-for-profit membership organization created to develop and implement a national strategy for health care quality measurement and reporting. Established as a public-private partnership, the NQF has broad participation from all parts of the health care system; including national, state, regional, and local groups representing consumers, public and private purchasers, employers, health care professionals, provider organizations, health plans, accrediting bodies, labor unions, supporting industries, and organizations involved in health care research or quality improvement.
www.qualityforum.org
National Safety Council - NSC - Their mission is "to educate and influence society to adopt safety, health and environmental policies, practices and procedures that prevent and mitigate human suffering and economic losses arising from preventable causes." Their Safety and Health section gives information on adverse drug effects as well as news and research.
http://nsc.org
National Women's Health Network - Consumer advocacy group giving women a greater voice in the health care system
www.womenshealthnetwork.org
NHAadvocates - Independent Citizen Advocacy Groups Working Together to Improve the Quality of Life for Our Nation's Nursing Home Residents - not affiliated in any way with the nursing home industry or with the State or Federal Government. Groups listed here are not-for-profit organizations funded through private donations and membership fees, and do not accept money from the nursing home industry or the Government
www.nhadvocates.org
Ohio Patient Safety Institute, Ohio Health Council
www.ohiopatientsafety.org
Partnership for Patient Safety (P4PS) - Patient-Centered initiative to advance the reliability of healthcare systems worldwide
www.p4ps.org
Patient Rights.Com. "Knowledge is Powerful Medicine"
www.patientrights.com
Patient Safety Advocates of Texas (PSAT) - Network of Texans that aims to be an effective and united voice to protect Texas patients and improve medical care.
www.texaswatch.org/familysafety_main.asp?insur_id=105&display=true
Patient Safety Institute - Non-profit, collaborative and voluntary initiative that combines the power of technology and the strength of patient-provider relationships to improve care and lower the costs of healthcare
www.ptsafety.org
Pennsylvania Patient Safety Collaborative, The Healthcare Alliance of Pennsylvania
The collaborative is a network of 27 organizations representing health care providers, insurers, organized labor, private industry, and consumers whose goal is to address the systematic issues that lead to medical errors and to work to reduce patient injury from errors through identification and correction of the causes of medical errors.
www.papatientsafety.net
Peoples Medical Society - Nonprofit organization dedicated to educating YOU, the consumer, about health care and your medical rights
www.peoplesmed.org
Public Citizen - Independent Voice for Citizens. Databank that contains information on doctors who have been disciplined by state medical boards and federal agencies www.questionabledoctors.org
Persons United Limiting Substandards and Errors
PULSE is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) organization working to improve patient safety and reduce the rate of medical errors using real life stories and experiences. Survivors of medical errors are encouraged to use their experience to educate the community and advocate for a safer healthcare system.
www.pulseamerica.org/
PULSEAmerica - P.U.L.S.E. Inc. is a nonprofit organization for the survivors and victims of medical errors, adverse events and substandard health care. Members and participants are encouraged to use their experience to educate and advocate for a safer healthcare system
www.pulseamerica.org
Quality Interagency Coordination (QuIC) Task Force - Established in 1998 in accordance with a Presidential directive. The purpose of the QuIC is to ensure that all Federal agencies involved in purchasing, providing, studying, or regulating health care services are working in a coordinated manner toward the common goal of improving quality care
Federal Actions to Reduce Medical Errors & Their Impact
www.quic.gov/report/toc.htm
www.quic.gov/
Remaking American Medicine Healthcare for the 21st Century - "Improving the Quality of Health Care...Community by Community" Remaking American Medicine is a four-part primetime television series intended for broadcast on PBS in early 2006. The series tells the stories of individuals and institutions struggling to address the significant problems that now plague our health care system. The PBS series focuses on the breathtaking advances being made in improving the quality of patient care and will feature compelling profiles of providers and patients who are working together to change fundamentally the way health care is delivered in this country. The goal of Remaking American Medicine is to inspire and empower viewers, by demonstrating what transforming the quality of patient care can mean to all Americans
http://ramcampaign.org
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation - Established as a national philanthropy in 1972 and today it is the largest US foundation devoted to improving the health and health care of all Americans.
www.rwjf.org
SAFER California Healthcare: Strategic Alliance for Error Reduction - California-based organization that is focusing on research, education, and clinical practice in patient safety.
http://www.safer.healthcare.ucla.edu
Save The Patient - Their mission is to educate and empower patients and the public to make effective and informed health care decisions through objective resources.
www.savethepatient.org
StopHospitalInfections.Org - The Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Patients,
A non-profit patient's rights organization.
www.spcpi.homestead.com
Talk About Medical Experiences (T.A.M.E.) - Nonprofit organization that advocates and publicly targets medical errors, discrimination, and abuse in the medical care delivery system, to the extent that recipients and former recipients of medical care may need assistance to support and protect their rights
www.tameinc.org
U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services (HHS)
www.hhs.gov
The University of Texas Center of Excellence for Patient Safety Research and Practice
A multi-institutional and multi-disciplinary project dedicated to improving healthcare for providers and patients. www.uth.tmc.edu/schools/med/imed/patient_safety/index.htm
University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB)
Information about the UTMB patient safety task force & links to patient safety organizations and information.
www.utmb.edu/patientsafety
Veteran's Administration (VA) National Center for Patient Safety - Information on root cause analysis, the culture of safety & health care safety updates and news
www.patientsafety.gov
Victim's Justice Center, Inc. - Mission is to focus on victim's rights in areas where there are gaps in services/ gaps in justice; including Medical Malpractice www.howdyneighbor.com/JusticeDenied/page50.html
Virginia Health Quality Center
www.vhqc.org
Virginians Improving Patient Care and Safety (VIPC&S)
www.vipcs.org
