Having the right facts from the right sources helps patients, consumers and their families make informed medical decisions. Numerous online resources are available to help you find the best health care choices for you or your family. Visit these sites to learn more about the quality of care provided by Missouri’s hospitals. Then, talk to your doctor about this information before making your hospital care decisions.
Missouri Resources
Missouri Center for Patient Safety
The Missouri Center for Patient Safety is a private, not-for-profit corporation dedicated to fostering change throughout Missouri’s health care delivery systems and across the continuum of care. The center seeks to support “a health care environment safe for all patients, in all processes, all the time” by working with health care providers and consumers to provide solutions and resources that improve patient safety and the quality of health care delivery.
Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services
In Missouri, hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers are required by state law and regulation to report selected data on health care-associated infections, also known as nosocomial infections. The reported infection data are available, by facility, from the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.
National Resources
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality seeks to improve the quality, safety, efficiency and effectiveness of health care for all Americans. An agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, AHRQ supports research that helps people make more informed decisions and improves the quality of health care services. At the site, consumers can view AHRQ resources on choosing quality care, getting safe care and comparing medical treatments.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention focuses on patient safety and human services. Its website includes health and safety topics, publications and products, and data and statistics.
ECRI Institute
The ECRI Institute researches the best approaches to improving patient care. It conducts unbiased, objective technical assessments on drugs, devices and medical procedures for hospitals, government agencies and health plans.
Institute for Healthcare Improvement
The Institute for Healthcare Improvement is an independent not-for-profit organization that works with health care providers and leaders throughout the world to achieve safe and effective health care. IHI focuses on motivating and building the will for change, identifying and testing new models of care in partnership with both patients and health care professionals, and ensuring the broadest possible adoption of best practices and effective innovations.
Institute for Safe Medication Practices
The Institute for Safe Medication Practices is an independent, nonprofit charitable organization that works closely with healthcare practitioners and institutions, regulatory agencies, consumers, and professional organizations to provide education about medication errors and their prevention.
Institute of Medicine
The Institute of Medicine works to improve the health of the nation by acting as an advisor, providing researched information to the public.
Joint Commission
The Joint Commission seeks to continuously improve health care for the public, in collaboration with other stakeholders, by evaluating health care organizations and inspiring them to excel in providing safe and effective care of the highest quality and value.
National Association for Healthcare Quality
The National Association for Healthcare Quality provides education, leadership development opportunities, and products to support quality professionals.
National Center For Patient Safety
The National Center for Patient Safety strives to create safety within and throughout the Veterans Health Administration. Its goal is the nationwide reduction and prevention of inadvertent harm to patients as a result of their care.
National Institutes of Health
The National Institutes of Health is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and is the primary federal agency for conducting and supporting basic, clinical and translational medical research, as well as investigating the causes, treatments and cures for both common and rare diseases.
National Quality Forum
The National Quality Forum is a nonprofit organization that seeks to improve the quality of health care by building consensus on national priorities and goals for performance improvement and working in partnership to achieve them, endorsing national consensus standards for measuring and publicly reporting on performance and promoting the attainment of national goals through education and outreach programs.
Partnership for Patient Safety
The site for Partnership for Patient Safety is a patient-centered initiative to advance the reliability of healthcare systems worldwide. p4ps® initiates focused partnerships and joint ventures with organizations and individuals that share our core values and objectives of achieving a healthcare system that is authentically patient-centered and systems based.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
- Home Health Compare provides information about the quality of care provided by Medicare-certified home health agencies throughout the nation. “Medicare-certified” means the home health agency is approved by Medicare and meets certain federal health and safety requirements.
- Hospital Compare provides information on how well hospitals care for patients with certain medical conditions or surgical procedures, as well as survey results from patients about the quality of care they received during a recent hospital stay.
- Nursing Home Compare has detailed information about every Medicare and Medicaid-certified nursing home in the United States.
- Quality Care Finder is a collection of helpful tools on Medicare.gov to help consumers research health care options to help Medicare patients and their caregivers compare health care providers, facilities, health and drug plans, equipment suppliers and more.
Tags: featured quality
