Related Links

  • Agency for Health Care Research And Quality (AHRQ) is the lead Federal agency responsible for research on the health care system, including how the health care system is working, quality, costs, access, use of services, and health care outcomes. The agency’s goal is to be sure that people who make decisions about health care have good information on which to base their decisions
     
  • The American Public Health Association (APHA) is concerned with a broad set of issues affecting personal and environmental health, including federal and state funding for health programs, pollution control, programs and policies related to chronic and infectious diseases, a smoke-free society, and professional education in public health.
     
  • The Academy for Health Services Research and Health Policy is committed to the vision of improving health and health care by generating new knowledge and moving knowledge into action. The Academy is committed to both strengthening the research base and integrating the use of this information in public and private decision making. The Academy was created through the merger on June 19, 2000, of the Association for Health Services Research and the Alpha Center.
     
  • The Cochrane Collaboration is an international organization that aims to help people make well-informed decisions about healthcare by preparing, maintaining and promoting the accessibility of systematic reviews of the effects of healthcare interventions.
     
  • Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care. This website uses national Medicare data to establish population-based healthcare utilization rates for those 65+ years, except for physicians. It reports US national and region-specific rates of overall and sector-specific spending, physician workforce, health care resources (hospital beds, personelle, etc), procedures, preventive measures etc.
     
  • The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. As of July 1, 2001, the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) is now the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). CMS provides health insurance for over 74 million Americans through Medicare, Medicaid and SCHIP. The CMS also performs a number of quality-focused activities, including regulation of laboratory testing (CLIA), development of coverage policies, and quality-of-care improvement. To ensure public and expert involvement in running our programs, CMS maintains a number of chartered advisory committees. Information for researchers is located at cms.hhs.gov/researchers/default.asp.
     
  • National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). As the Nation's principal health statistics agency, the NCHS provides statistical information to guide actions and policies to improve the health of the American people. NCHS obtains statistics through a broad-based program of ongoing and special studies, including household interview surveys, examination surveys, surveys of health care providers, and collection of statistics on birth and death in partnership with State government. NCHS data are provided over the internet, on CD-ROM, and in printed publications. To assist data users, NCHS operates a centralized information program that provides reference, inquiry and referral service to help users located and use NCHS data and to identify other data sources. For additional information, see the NCHS website, e-mail nchsquery@cdc.gov or telephone 301-458-4636.)
     
  • Research Data Assistance Center (ResDAC) was formed to assist researchers in gaining a more ready access and understanding of Medicare and Medicaid data that is available from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Service (CMS). The ResDAC contract was awarded to a university consortium chaired by the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, and includes faculty and staff from Boston University School of Medicine, and Dartmouth College Medical School. ResDAC provides an Assistance Desk whose staff work with researchers in developing study protocols, selecting appropriate data files, and resolving data content questions; an outreach program that includes formal training and workshops at meetings of professional organizations; and training databases that researchers can use to explore and learn about the data before embarking on the more costly enterprise of using actual HCFA data.
     
  • The Society for Medical Decision Making is dedicated to promoting rational and systematic approaches to decision making that will improve the health and clinical care of individuals and assist health policy formation. The Society's diverse membership includes trainees to senior researchers as well as educators, clinicians, managers, and policy makers. Members come from a variety of backgrounds and academic disciplines.
     
  • The Center for the Advancement of Health advocates the use of science in policy and practice. CFAH has conclusively demonstrated how and why many critical research findings are underreported and underused in personal, professional, and policy decisions. It also has shown that acting on this knowledge can lead to improvements in health and quality of life. And it has contributed to achieving such improvements by working with the news media, HMOs, insurers, companies and governments to improve the everyday health choices of individuals.
     
  • Will Yancey's webpage on sampling Medicare claims. Includes audits of processing of claims, such as Medicare, Medicaid, state-sponsored health care plans, group health care claims, other high-volume insurance claims, and government programs. Will Yancey is a current ASA member and resident of the State of Texas. He consults on statistical applications in various fields.
     
     Please address questions, comments, and suggestions for additional useful links to the HPSS Publications Officer.