"Your Guide to Choosing Quality Health Care" was developed by the Agency for Health Care Research and Quality to help you make health care decisions using information about quality. The Guide is based on research about the information people want and need when choosing health plans, doctors, treatments, hospitals, and long-term care.
It shows how you can use information about quality to improve the quality of health care services you and your family receive. It describes quality measures including consumer ratings, clinical performance measures, and accreditationwhat they are, where to find them, and how to use them. The Guide has checklists, questions, charts, and other tools to help you make the health care decisions that are right for you.
A summary of the major ways you can check for quality health care can be found in the Quick Checks for Quality: