For Consumers

IMPROVE YOUR HEALTH CARE

Explore Your Treatment Options:  It's Your Health, From the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.  Your quality of life depends on knowing your options.  http://www.effectivehealthcare.ahrq.gov/options/

Questions Are the Answer, From the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.  Medical errors cause tens of thousands of deaths each year. But you can help. Get more involved with your health care.  http://www.ahrq.gov/questionsaretheanswer/index.html

Take health care into your own hands, from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.  www.healthcare.gov

HEALTH REFORM

Implementation Timeline  This implementation timeline from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation is an interactive tool designed to explain how and when the provisions of the health reform law will be implemented over the next several years.  http://healthreform.kff.org/timeline.aspx

Health Care Reform Resource Center  From the Commonwealth Fund, a Private Foundation Working Toward a High Performing Health System - View the timeline for an overview of the Affordable Care Act's major provisions or use the "Find Health Reform Provisions" tool to search for specific provisions by year, category, and/or stakeholder group. http://www.commonwealthfund.org/Health-Reform/Health-Reform-Resource.aspx

HEALTH CARE ASSOCIATED INFECTIONS

Frequently Asked Questions about Catheter-Associated Bloodstream Infections  http://clabsi.apic.org/Content/NavigationMenu6/Resources/EducatingClinicalStaff/CLABSIFAQs.pdf 

Infection Prevention and You, from the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc.  Learn about who's working to keep you safe and how you can take control of your care.  http://www.apic.org/Content/NavigationMenu/PracticeGuidance/Topics/PatientSafetyAwarenessWeek/Patient_Safety_Aware.htm  

HOSPITAL COMPARE

From the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.  The Hospital Compare website was created through the efforts of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), along with the Hospital Quality Alliance (HQA). The information on this website can be used by any patients needing hospital care. http://www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov/