Overlake Medical Library
Administrative and Management
Resources

Our Featured Site
General Administrative Sites
Disaster and Emergency Preparedness
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)
Health Law

Journals and News Online
Managed Care / Health Insurance
Medical Outcomes, Practice Guidelines, Standards, Etc.
Patient Safety Resources

Professional Organizations (Administrative)
Public Health
Reference Sources
Statistical Resources (International, national, state, and regional)
Internet Search Tools


NLM Gateway

The NLM Gateway allows users to search in multiple retrieval systems at the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM). The current Gateway searches MEDLINE/PubMed, OLDMEDLINE, LOCATORplus, AIDS Meetings, Health Services Research Meetings, HSRProj, MEDLINEplus and DIRLINE. See the Overview for details.



Our Featured Site

2007 State Snapshots  
Provides state-specific health care quality information, including strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for improvement to better understand health care quality and disparities in their State.

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General Administrative Sites

AISHealth.com
Highly targeted news, data and strategic information for managers in hospitals, managed care plans, and other health care organizations with free daily information updates.
Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC)
A nonpartisan policy research organization that designs and conducts studies focused on the U.S. health care system. Led by noted healthcare researcher Paul B. Ginsburg, they are committed to chronicling trends in the health care system and drawing implications that are devoid of bias.
The Commonwealth Fund   
The mission of this private foundation is to promote a high performing health care system that achieves better access, improved quality, and greater efficiency for all. Unique publications are created and published though their support of independent research on health care issues.

Cut to the Chase
An assemblage of practical information for healthcare management from articles to links with free registration required.
Duke Health Policy Gateway
Duke University's Center for Health Policy, Law & Management provides an extensive links site with many health care information web sites listed.
Government Resources  
A categorized selected list of national, state, and international government resources helping you locate most major health-related agencies.
Health Forum
Combining hospital and managed care information through units of The Healthcare Forum and the AHA.
Health Hippo
Policy and regulatory materials related to health care.
The Health of Washington State
Department of Health's state wide appraisal of health in Washington state from the perspectives of the people, health risks faced, and health systems that exist. Utilize the Table of Contents on the left-side of the page.
Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation
An independent philanthropy focusing on the major health care issues facing the nation acting as an independent voice and source of facts and analysis for policymakers, the media, the health care community, and the general public. Checkout the
Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report providing summaries of news stories with links to the original articles and a fully searchable archive.  With health care emerging as a top domestic issue in the 2008 presidential election, Kaiser launched health08.org, a new website providing analysis of health policy issues, regular public opinion surveys, and news and video coverage from the campaign trail.
JCAHO: Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations
Provides insight into how it evaluates and accredits more than 19,500 health care organizations in the United States.
National Conference of State Legislatures
Comprehensive information and research on state issues concerning health.
NIST National Quality Program
Home of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award that provides the framework, core-values, and methods to improve company performance.
RAND Health
A division within the RAND Corporation, it concentrates on improving health and health care systems through extensive research projects.

Stateline.org: Healthcare Issues
Funded by
The Pew Charitable Trusts, this nonprofit online news publication reports each weekday on healthcare and state government policy issues.
The Urban Institute
Investigates, researches, and publishes on social and economic problems.
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Established in 1972, it is the largest US foundation devoted to improving the health and health care of all Americans.

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Disaster and Emergency Preparedness

Disaster and Emergency Preparedness Resources
An organized grouping of Internet sites which lead to information that would be useful to anyone who may be charged with the planning and organizing of emergency response to disasters.
Emergencies and Disasters
This webpage from the
National Safety Council offers resources for businesses, families, and emergency responders.

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Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)

AHA HIPAA Standards Resource
AHA has mounted a major association-wide initiative to position members to implement these new requirements efficiently and effectively.
AMA HIPAA Resource
The AMA has provided this tool which will help physicians understand how to comply with the parts of the HIPAA Final Rule on Transaction and Medical Code Sets as necessary.
HIPAA Act (final rule as published in the Federal Register on 2/20/03, scroll down to locate it under Health and Human Services Department)
The
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) (formerly HCFA) provides the complete HIPAA Act with additional resources to aid in the understanding and implementation of the new guidelines. Available in either text format or in Adobe Acrobat PDF.
HIPAA Administrative Simplification: Tool Kit for Small Group and Safety-Net Providers
Prepared by the Pacific Health Policy Group of the California HealthCare Foundation providing a basic understanding of HIPAA requirements and how to implement them presented in
Adobe Acrobat PDF.
HIPAA Glossary
Part of the
Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange (WEDI) web site, it provides a detailed glossary of the terminology of HIPPA in Adobe Acrobat PDF format.
HIPAAdvisory
This HIPAA "super site" created by Phoenix Health Systems provides a wealth of resources including an email discussion group and newsletter.

HHS HIPAA Administrative Simplification Resource

All medical records and other individually identifiable health information used or disclosed by a covered entity in any form, whether electronically, on paper, or orally, are covered by the final rule.
ReadyforHIPAA.com
This site provides the IT information you need as you perform the specific tasks in your enterprise to reach the privacy and security goals required for HIPAA.
Rx2000 Insitute
This non-profit member supported organization has created the HIPAA Knowledge Center to provide information and web site links critical to planning for and implementing HIPAA.

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Health Law

Cornell Legal Research Encyclopedia
A topical and jurisdictional arrangement of legal resources in all available formats organized by subject, United States, countries, and international law.
Find
Law
FindLaw provides a comprehensive set of legal resources on the Internet for
legal professionals, businesses, and individuals. Health Law specifics can be accessed here.
Healthcare Law Net
The national Health Business Group of the law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLP has created a comprehensive online resource covering health law.
Hieros Gamos Research Center Health Law Section
This section focuses on health care law and regulations. Health care issues also fall under its insurance and employment sections.
Kansas Elder Law Network (KELN.org)
Serves as a repository for legal and other materials relevant to the practice of elder law that are national in scope.
Law and Policy Institutions Guide
A good starting point for legal research. You'll find authoritative, timely, and useful law related resources on the Internet.
Nolo's Legal Encyclopedia
Choose among hundreds of articles -- every one written in plain-English that Nolo is famous for -- on many different legal topics.
Reference Guide on Medical Testimony   
The Federal Judicial Center provides this section on medical testimony from the
Reference Manual on Scientific Evidence 2d ed. Both are presented in Adobe Acrobat PDF.

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Journals and News Online

AHA News
Weekly health news; some site features require free registration.
The American Journal of Managed Care
This peer-reviewed publication is dedicated to disseminating clinical information to managed care physicians, clinical decision makers, and other healthcare professionals.
American Medical News
Now features major articles in full text from every section of the newspaper.
Cost and Quality Quarterly Journal
Providing a unique blend of clinical, financial, and legal information that can be read online with selectively offered current and archived articles.
Health Affairs
Topics cover health policy and managed care with some articles at website in full text. Full text of all issues available back to 1994 in
ProQuest Direct
Health Data Management
A leading source for news and in-depth analysis on using information technology to achieve business goals and improve the quality of care.
Health Facilities Management
The AHA publishes this timely publication for those professionals charged with the management of healthcare facilities.
Health Forum Journal
An AHA publication focusing on communications, information, education and research products and services that advance leadership for health.
Health Futures Digest  
This is a monthly digest of news and commentary on long-range, leading edge technological innovations and their consequences and implications for healthcare policy and practice.
HealthLeaders Magazine
A monthly that looks at the issues and trends that are shaping the business of healthcare in the United States today.
Health Policy
Read full text articles covering health-related policy issues from numerous news sources.
Health Progress
CHA's official journal, providing bimonthly analysis of issues facing the leaders of Catholic health care today.
HSR: Health Services Research
Research then read the abstracts of articles from 1989-current year in this preeminent journal that enhances the knowledge and understanding of health care financing, organization, delivery, and outcomes.
Healthcare Informatics
Provides timely information, analyze and interpret major trends influencing the healthcare market.
Hospitals & Health Networks
Some site features require free registration.
Journal of Clinical Outcomes Management (JCOM)
A peer-reviewed journal published monthly examining the impact of health care services and products on the health of patients and populations and provide information to inform evidence-based practice.
Managed Care
Information and news on managed care with resources from the Internet.
Managed Healthcare Executive
Provides in-depth analysis on the business of healthcare needed to provide high-quality care and contain costs.
Medical Economics
Full text articles with some site features requiring free registration.
Modern Healthcare
Business newsweekly serving healthcare management that is edited to keep healthcare executives current with news and trends in the field.

Modern Physician
A monthly publication providing up-to-date news and information on management, legal, labor, regulatory, socio-economic and financial issues as they impact physician executives with management responsibilities.
Physician's Weekly
Highlights and analysis of medical news every week.
Trustee
From the AHA with some site features requiring free registration.

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Managed Care / Health Insurance

AIS Managed Care
Specialized business research, news, and information targeted for health care managers.
American Association of Health Plans (AAHP)
This is the nation's principal association of health plans, representing more than 1,000 plans to include health maintenance organizations (HMOs), preferred provider organizations (PPOs), other similar health plans and utilization review organizations (UROs).

Casualty Actuarial Society Glossary of Terms in Managed Health Care

The Casualty Actuarial Society provides definitions of commonly used terms in the medical provider, hospital and managed care industries.
Glossary of Terms in Managed Health Care
Pam Pohly Associates award winning site provides definitions of commonly used managed care terms.
InterStudy
Reliable source for timely and accurate managed care data and analyses.
MCOL: Managed Care On-Line
Knowledge resource website for managed care professionals.
State Coverage Initiatives   
A national initiative of
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation that works with states to plan, execute, and maintain health insurance expansions, as well as to improve the availability and affordability of health care coverage. One of the uniques resource tools is the State Coverage Matrix which provides specific strategies states have used to expand or sustain insurance coverage. There are also publications and state reports, as well.

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Medical Outcomes, Practice Guidelines, Research, Standards, Etc.

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)
Formerly the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research charged with supporting research designed to improve the quality of health care.
CARF: The Rehabilitation Accreditation Commission
Develops and maintains standards for programs and services delivered to people in need of rehabilitation.
College of American Pathologists

Practice parameters and guidelines in pathology.

HSTAT Clinical Practice Guidelines
Access to the full-text of documents useful in health care decision making
.
Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI)  
Offers practical ideas and information on how to improve health care especially Patient-Centered Care and Patient Safety.
Institute of Medicine
Provides objective, timely, authoritative information and advice concerning health and science policy to government, the corporate sector, the professions and the public. Choose the area of interest from the choices in the "white box".
Medical Outcomes Trust
Information on outcomes measurement and the instruments that measure health and the outcomes of medical care;
most services are by subscription.
National Committee on Quality Assurance
Assesses and reports on the quality of the nation's managed care plans
.
National Coordinating Council for Medication Error Reporting and Prevention (NCC MERP)
An independent body comprised of 20 national health care organizations collaborating and cooperating to address the interdisciplinary causes of errors and to promote the safe use of medications.
Primary Care Clinical Practice Guidelines
Comprehensive guidelines from the University of California - San Francisco.
Washington State Health Care Authority
Launching point for information on health care in Washington State.

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Patient Safety Resources

AHA Quality and Patient Safety
The
American Hospital Association (AHA) tools and resources that hospitals can use to measure quality of care, continually improve patient safety and quality, and create a "culture of safety" that supports candid analysis of errors and error prevention.
AHRQ WebM&M: Morbidity and Mortality Rounds Patient Safety Web Journal
The
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality created this online journal and forum on patient safety and health care quality. It features expert analysis of medical errors reported anonymously by readers, interactive learning modules on patient safety (“Spotlight Cases”), and forums for online discussion. CME credit is available. Registration allows you to submit casesand Forum participation.
Center on Patient Safety
Patient safety and quality improvement in health systems is prominenfrom the
American Society of Health-System Pharmacists.
Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI)  
Offers practical ideas and information on how to improve health care especially Patient-Centered Care and Patient Safety.
JCAHO Facts about Patient Safety
JCAHO provides shortcuts to its resources on vital patient safety issues. Users can find facts about national patient safety goals, patient safety-related standards, sentinel event policy, sentinel event alerts, patient safety coalitions, legislative efforts, patient safety resources, and information on the JCAHO Office of Quality Monitoring.
MEDERRORS.com
Intended as a useful link to experts providing information on medication errors and adverse drug event prevention in hospitals.

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Professional Organizations (Administrative)

AcademyHealth
The professional society for health services researchers, policy analysts, and practitioners, with extensive resources in health research and policy.

American College of Healthcare Executives
Working towards the goal of improving the health status of society by advancing healthcare management excellence.
American Hospital Association
The national organization that represents and serves all types of hospitals, health care networks, and their patients and communities.
Catholic Healthcare Association
Represents the largest single group of the nation's not-for-profit hospitals.
Center for Health Administration Studies
Located at the University of Chicago it conducts interdisciplinary studies of local, national, and international health services delivery.
Clinical Laboratory Management Association

For those responsible for laboratories and clinical services in hospitals and health-care networks, group practices, and independent settings.
Healthcare Financial Management Association
Information on financial management in hospitals, ambulatory care facilities, managed care organizations, and other healthcare organizations.
The Healthcare Forum
Provides an integrated portfolio of communications, information, education and research products and services that advance leadership for health.
King County Medical Society
The membership medical society for physicians practicing in King County Washington.
Medical Group Management Association
The leading organization representing medical group practice nationwide improving the effectiveness of medical group practices and the knowledge and skills of the individuals who manage/lead them.
National Academy of Sciences

A private, non-profit, society of distinguished scholars dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Unique projects and reports are hallmarks of their research.
National Institute for Health Care Management Research and Educational Foundation
The NIHCM Foundation conducts research, policy analysis and educational activities on a range of health care issues.
Save Health Care in Washington  
This is a campaign to protect and expand affordable health care for every Washington resident. The Washington State Hospital Association, Community Health Network of Washington health plan and Washington State Medical Association make up the bulk of membership.

Washington State Hospital Association

Leadership role in improving the health status of the citizens of Washington State.
Washington State Medical Association
Promotes and protects the health of the public in Washington State.

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Public Health

AcademyHealth
The professional society for health services researchers, policy analysts, and practitioners, with extensive resources in health research and policy.

Canadian Guide to Clinical Preventive Health Care
The
Health Care Network at Health Canada has designed this as a practical guide to a wide variety of preventive health interventions.
Cancer Control P.L.A.N.E.T.     
This portal provides access to data and resources that can help planners, program staff, and researchers to design, implement and evaluate evidence-based cancer control programs. Information is found by individual cancer control topics.
CDC Wonder Public Health Database  
Makes the information resources of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) available to public health professionals and the public at large. It provides access to a wide array of public health information.

Community Tool Box
Created and maintained by the Work Group on Health Promotion and Community Development at the University of Kansas it provides over 6,000 pages of practical skill-building information on over 250 different topics in support of promoting community health and development.

Database of Country and Regional Indicators
This database contains up-to-date information from 72 key indicators in such areas as HIV/AIDS, treatment access, general health, mortality, education, the economy, population, fertility, and human development, for 194 countries and 10 regions.
Guide to Clinical Preventive Services, 3rd Edition, Periodic Updates
Updates some recommendations from the
2nd Edition, 1996 and evaluates additional new topics. Recommendations from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) are being released incrementally.
Health Policy Monitor  
This site presents current health policy ideas, approaches, model projects, or pieces of legislation in various stages of preparation or implementation.

Journal of Rural Health
Published by the
National Rural Health Association, you'll find articles from the current issue that are available in full text.
Medscape Public Health & Prevention
This is a collaboration with the American Public Health Association. Here you will find news, reports from recent journals, continuing education information, conference information, and more. Free one-time registration required.
Partners in Information Access for the Public Health Workforce
This is a collaboration of U.S. government agencies, public health organizations and health sciences libraries with numerous resources and links to even more.
Preventing Chronic Disease (PCD)
Published by the
National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Preventing Chronic Disease (PCD) is a peer-reviewed electronic journal focusing on preventing diseases such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and stroke.
Rural Assistance Center (RAC)
A rural health and human services "information portal" providing information from myriad sources and provides easy access to that information.

World Health News
This is an online news digest from the Center for Health Communication at the Harvard School of Public Health.

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Reference Sources

Acronyms and Initialisms for Health Information Resources
Acronyms for global information and data resources in health, medical, and veterinary sciences with some linked to selected related web sites.
AIM Association of State Medical Board Executive Directors
This web site presents a health professional licensing database with information supplied voluntarily by the respective state medical boards.
Almanac of Policy Issues: Health   
Health-related issues, including health insurance coverage, public health initiatives, health-related research, and major federal programs like Medicaid and Medicare, are the focus of this section in the
Almanac of Policy Issues.
American Board of Internal Medicine
Find a board certified physician in the discipline of internal medicine and its subspecialties, and areas of added qualifications.
American Board of Medical Specialties Certified Doctor Verification Service
Contains all physicians certified by an ABMS member board.
American Hospital Directory
Provides summary data (both
AHA and CMS [formerly HCFA] data) for most hospitals. Click on "Free Services" then choose hospital name and/or state.
American Medical Association (AMA) DoctorFinder
The American Medical Association provides information on over 650,000 doctors with verified licensure and credential data.
Directory of America's Hospitals
Looking for a hospital? With more than 6,000 hospitals in the United States, this can be daunting. The
American Hospital Association and U.S.News & World Report have collaborated to create this resource where you can specify the hospital's location (by region, state, or distance from any ZIP code), type, specialization, and services offered. Best of all it's FREE!
General Information Resources (regional and national)
An organized page of categorized local reference links.
Healthcare, Policy, Law, & Insurance
A group of textbooks from our
Online Textbooks page we have made available here for your convenience.
HealthGrades.com
A source for healthcare ratings information on hospitals, health plans and physicians.
Health Professions Quality Assurance (HPQA) of Washington State
Washington State Department of Health (DOH)posts license status of all healthcare professionals that includes information on the state's 260,000 healthcare professionals in 54 professions, from acupuncturists to X-ray technicians.
King County Medical Society Find a Physician
Search by name, zip code, medical specialty, and search language.
On-line Medical Dictionary
Resource with detailed definitions of medical terms.

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Statistical Resources (international, national, state, and regional)

Advance Data Reports
These reports provide early release of data from the National Center for Health Statistics' health and demographic surveys. Many of these releases are followed by detailed reports in the
Vital and Health Statistics series.
AgingStats.Gov
This web site of the Federal Interagency Forum on Aging-Related Statistics encompasses the efforts of ten federal agencies that produce or use statistics on aging.
American Fact Finder
Provides quality data about the people in cities of the United States.
America's Health: United Health Foundation State Health Rankings 2007        
The
United Health Foundation compiles a comprehensive, multi-dimensional, yearly analysis of the relative healthiness of the American population using information supplied by various sources as an Adobe Acrobat PDF  View the previous years 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
City-Data.com   
 
This web-based resource has collected and analyzed data from numerous sources to create as complete and interesting profiles of all U.S. cities as possible.
County and City Data Book: 2007  
Compiled since the 1940s, this resource incorporates demographic and economic information about the United States from Census Bureau surveys, as well as information from other government and private organizations. The data cover topics such as population, housing, vital statistics, health care, social programs, education, labor force, wholesale and retail trade, and weather. 
Adobe Acrobat Reader required. 
DataFerret  
A collaboration between the
U.S. Census Bureau and the Centers for Disease Control is a data mining tool that accesses data stored in TheDataWeb through the internet. You can select a databasket full of variables and then recode those variables as you need.
Data and Surveys
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) presents statistics on medical and healthcare costs, expenditures, and utilization.
Directory of Health and Human Services Data Resources

Compilation of information about virtually all major data collection systems sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
GlobalHealthFacts.org   
Another project of the
Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation that provides up-to-date and easy-to-access data by country on HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and other key health and socio-economic indicators.
Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Data and Statistics
HRSA presents demographic data for health status and health care access targeted in the areas of primary health care, health care provider resources, maternal and child health, public health, rural health, and HIV/AIDS.
Health, United States, 2007    
National trends in health statistics on such topics as birth and death rates, use of ambulatory care and inpatient care, health personnel and facilities, financing of health care, health insurance and managed care, and other health topics including a chartbook and trend tables. You will also find editions back to 1993 in their entirety.
Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP)   
HCUP data are used for research on hospital utilization, access, charges, quality and outcomes which are used to describe patterns of care for uncommon and common diseases, analyze hospital procedures, including those that are performed infrequently, and study the care of population sub-groups such as minorities, children, women, and the uninsured.
Kaiser Family Foundation's State Health Facts Online
A new resource containing the latest state-level data on demographics, health, and health policy, including health coverage, access, financing, and state legislation.
Kids Count Data Book
First published in 1990, it is a national and state-by-state project of the
Annie E. Casey Foundation to track the status of children in the United States.
National Vital Statistics Report
Formerly known as the Monthly Vital Statistics Report, it presents monthly and cumulative data on births, deaths, marriages and divorces, and infant deaths for States and the United States with brief analyses of the statistics.
State and County Quick Facts
Quick Facts tables are summary profiles showing frequently requested data items from various Census Bureau programs. Profiles are available at the national, state, and county level.
State Rankings List
Presents timely, relevant, and quality data about the individual states in the United States.
State Scorecard on Health System Performance   
The Commonwealth Fund  created this map to view state-specific rankings and results compared to benchmarks, and to view the number of lives and dollars each state could save by achieving benchmark levels of performance.
Statistical Abstract of the United States
Contains a collection of statistics on social and economic conditions in the United States
Statistical Information on Older Persons
The
Administration on Aging provides comprehensive data resources on the aging characteristics of America and Americans.
Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program
An authoritative source of information on cancer incidence and survival in the United States from the
National Cancer Institute.
2007 State Snapshots  
Provides state-specific health care quality information, including strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for improvement to better understand health care quality and disparities in their State.
Vital and Health Statistics
Also known as "The Rainbow Series", it provides data on the Nation's official vital events compiled from state reports. Not all reports are available full text online but may be available in paper at local academic health science libraries.
Washington State Data Book
Presents information about Washington, its people, economy, and government. Divided into eleven major sections including population and human services.
Washington State Vital Statistics Overview
Compiled by the Washington State Department of Health.

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Last update:  April 11, 2008