Additional Quality Improvement Resources From AHRQ

Online resources available from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to facilitate quality improvement efforts include:

• The 2004 National Healthcare Quality Report and the 2004 National Healthcare Disparities Report are available at http://www.qualitytools.ahrq.gov.
• Diabetes Care Quality Improvement: A Resource Guide for State Action and Diabetes Care Quality Improvement: A Workbook for State Action are available at http://www.ahrq.gov/qual/diabqualoc.htm.
• The National Quality Measures Clearinghouse™, http://www.qualitymeasures.ahrq.gov, is a database and Web site for information on specific evidence-based health care quality measures and measure sets. Its mission is to provide practitioners, health care providers, health plans, integrated delivery systems, purchasers and others with an accessible mechanism for obtaining detailed information on quality measures, and to further their dissemination, implementation, and use in order to inform health care decisions.
• The Consumer Assessment of Health Plans, https://www.cahps.ahrq.gov/ , helps consumers identify the best health care plans and services for their needs. The goals of the Consumer Assessment of Health Plans (CAHPS®) are to:
  • Develop and test questionnaires that assess health plans and services.
  • Produce easily understandable reports for communicating survey information to consumers.
  • Evaluate the usefulness of these reports for consumers in selecting health care plans and services.
• The Morbidity and Mortality (M&M) Web site, http://www.webmm.ahrq.gov, offers interesting cases of medical errors and patient safety problems. Every month, five cases of medical errors and patient safety problems are posted—one each from fields that include medicine, surgery/anesthesia, obstetrics-gynecology, pediatrics, psychiatry, emergency medicine, and radiology. These cases are submitted through the Web site (anonymously) and raise key issues about patient safety and systems improvement.
• The Child Health Toolbox, http://www.ahrq.gov/chtoolbx, is an online resource for any person or organization that wants to measure health care quality for children and adolescents. State and local policymakers, program directors, and their staffs need to be able to tell how well their children's health programs are performing, identify areas that need improvement, and assess the impact of improvement strategies. This online resource can help them in that effort. Health care consumers, advocates, providers, and plans will also find it useful.
• AHRQ's User Liaison Program (ULP), http://www.ahrq.gov/news/ulpix.htm, disseminates health services research findings for State and local health policymakers in easily understandable and usable formats through interactive onsite workshops, teleconferences, distance learning programs, and research syntheses. Products such as workshop summaries, Web-based materials, and audiotapes provide users with access to information on a variety of topics, including quality and disparities in health care.
• AHRQ's Quality Indicators (QIs), http://www.qualityindicators.ahrq.gov, use hospital administrative data to highlight potential quality concerns, identify areas that need further study and investigation, and track changes over time. The AHRQ QIs are comprised of the:
  • Inpatient Quality Indicators (IQIs).
  • Prevention Quality Indicators (PQIs).
  • Patient Safety Indicators (PSIs).
• The TalkingQuality Web site, http://www.talkingquality.gov, is designed for people and organizations interested in educating consumers about health care quality. This site offers the latest research findings, real-world examples, and innovative ideas on ways to communicate complex information on health care quality to consumers.
• The National Guideline Clearinghouse™, http://www.guideline.gov, is a comprehensive database of evidence-based clinical practice guidelines and related documents. Its purpose is provide physicians, nurses, and other health professionals, health care providers, health plans, integrated delivery systems, purchasers and others an accessible mechanism for obtaining objective, detailed information on clinical practice guidelines and to further their dissemination, implementation and use.
• AHRQ's Publications Catalog, http://www.ahrq.gov/news/pubcat/pubcat.htm, summarizes printed resources that can be ordered from AHRQ's Publications Clearinghouse by sending an E-mail to ahrqpubs@ahrq.gov or calling 1-800-358-9295.

Coming Soon

AHRQ's Patient Safety Network (PSNet) is a soon-to-be-launched national Web-based resource that will feature the latest news and essential resources on patient safety. It will allow its diverse users to customize the site around their interests ("My PSNet") and will offer weekly updates of patient safety literature, news, tools, and meetings, and a vast set of carefully annotated links to important research and other information on patient safety.

AHRQ Publication No. 05-M041
Current as of April 2005

Internet Citation:

Additional Quality Improvement Resources From AHRQ. April 2005. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. http://www.ahrq.gov/qual/resources.htm

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