Foundations, Organizations

Key terms: patient safety, patient outcomes, inpatient mortality, health care errors, accountability, medical error, adverse events, health care error, ethics, lifelong learning, safety legislation, stakeholders, organizational characteristics, magnet hospitals, Sentinel Events, systems, nursing and public accountability, nursing quality, professional advocacy, quality of care.

Site Name: The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA)
Description: is a non-profit watchdog organization. This Committee assesses, measures and reports the outcomes of care.
Available: www.ncqa.org

Site Name: National Patient Safety Foundation
Description: The National Patient Safety Foundation is a resource for individuals and organizations committed to improving the safety of patients
Available: www.npsf.org/html/about_npsf.html

Site Name: Institute of Medicine (IOM)
Description: The Institute's work focuses on committee reports, studies on subjects ranging from HIV prevention to providing clinical care in extended space flight, research opportunities at the National Institute of Health, to protecting the nation's food supply.
Available: www.iom.edu/

Site Name: Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO)
Description: The Joint Commission evaluates and accredits more than 16,000 health care organizations and programs in the United States.
Available: www.jcaho.org

Site Name: American Hospital Association
Description: Provides current information on a broad range of health care topics.
Available: www.hospitalconnect.com/

Site Name: American Medical Association
Description: Current information on topics in medicine and information for healthcare professionals.
Available: www.ama-assn.org/

Site Name: The Institute for Safe Medical Practices (ISMP)
Description: is a not-for-profit organization that analyzes medications errors and has compiled a system for reviewing and cataloguing medication and administration issues.
Available: www.ismp.org

Site Name: U.S. Pharmacopoeia (USP)
Description: operates a Medication Error Reporting (MER) program for nurses, physicians, pharmacists and students to report medication-related errors (including errors in ordering, dispensing and administration) anonymously via mail, fax, Internet or telephone to the USP offices.
Available: www.usp.org/

Site Name: Institute for Safe Medication practices
Description: Consumer health education newsletter that focuses on the prevention of medication errors, is part of the National Institute of Health.
Available: www.ismp.org/Pages/Consumer.html

Government Agencies

Site name: The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)
Description: Dedicated to nursing research and quality of care.
Available: www.ahrq.gov

Site Name: Veterans Health Administration (VHA)
Description: launched its Patient Safety Reporting System. The mission of the PHSHCG is to provide the highest quality, comprehensive care to veterans and to have that care recognized as the standard by which all health care in the United States is measured.
Available: www.va.gov/

Site Name: Department of Health and Human Services.
Description: Promotes health, safety and well-being and provides government services.
Available: www.os.dhhs.gov/

Site Name: National Institutes of Health
Description: Information resource for health, grants and funding, research.
Available: www.nih.gov/

Education, Universities

Other Resources

Site name: Leapfrog Group
Description: A group of CEOs from 100 of the nation’s largest corporations, cites patient safety as one of its major objectives in reviewing health care delivery systems. JCAHO is a member of the Leapfrog Group and will assist the group in the identification of a specific set of intensive care, unit-related measures.
Available: www.leapfroggroup.org

Site name: Achoo Gateway to Health

Description: Search engine for pertinent topics in health care
Available: www.achoo.com

Site name: WebMD
Description: Broad based web page for information on topics in health care
Available: www.webMD.com

Site name: Ask a Nurse
Description: Educational materials
Available: www.askanurse.com.