Resource Review
Our literal and virtual bookshelves are filled with great resources we've discovered over the years, and we're glad to give you the benefit of our experience by sharing these resources with you here!

AHRQ PSNet
AHRQ WebM&M
Clinician-Consumer Health Advisory information Network
HCUPNet
Healthy People 2010
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report
National Diabetes Education Program
Women's Health Initiative
AHRQ PSNet: The national Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Patient Safety Network is an Internet-based resource that provides a gateway to the latest news and resources for improving patient safety and preventing medical errors. Browse through the site and you’ll find links to abstracts of journal manuscripts, full-text newspaper and magazine articles, and AHRQ publications, all related to patient safety. The site also includes an extensive glossary of terms associated with patient safety and medical errors. A new feature on the site is Patient Safety Primers. Each primer reviews a single aspect of patient safety, such as medical reconciliation, patient disclosure, or health care-associated infections, and provides background and context:  http://psnet.ahrq.gov/

Back to Top


AHRQ WebM&M: Mortality and Morbidity Rounds on the Web is another resource provided by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and produced by a team of editors at the University of California, San Francisco with guidance from a prominent Editorial Board and Advisory Panel. This Internet-based journal features patient safety lessons developed from medical errors that occurred to actual patients. Users can submit actual patient cases for review and commentary. Added content comes from Perspectives on Safety, a monthly feature by an expert on some aspect of patient care and safety:  http://webmm.ahrq.gov/

Back to Top

Clinician-Consumer Health Advisory Information Network: The Clinician-Consumer Health Advisory Information Network, or CHAIN for short, is a new website from the Centers for Education and Research on Therapeutics (CERTs), an initiative of the US Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). Medical writers will find this a useful resource for timely and practical information on emerging issues surrounding drugs, devices, and biologic products. Think of CHAIN as a filter where you can find the latest information about safety, efficacy, and other concerns surrounding products already approved by the FDA. Imbedded in the site are continuing medical education activities and expert opinions and viewpoints that might be helpful when preparing educational needs assessment. The site is still under development, with more information to be added in the future:  http://www.chainonline.org

Back to Top

Healthy People 2010: Healthy People 2010 is a national initiative that seeks to promote improved health and longevity among Americans and to eliminate health disparities among different population segments in the United States. This set of national health objectives was developed by federal agencies with input from the Healthy People Consortium, an alliance of more than 350 national membership organizations and 250 state health, mental health, substance abuse, and environmental agencies. Learn more about the initiative at http://www.healthypeople.gov/

 Back to Top

 HCUPnet: Access to health statistics and data on hospital inpatient and emergency department utilization is as quick and easy as point and click. Just go to your favorite browser and type in http://hcupnet.ahrq.gov/ to arrive at HCUPnet, a free, online query system run by the Agency for Healthcare Quality and Research (AHRQ). Analyzing data from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project, HCUPnet can give you fast access to health-statistics data you might need.

Back to Top

 Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR): A weekly publication of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the MMWR is available online and as a print document. A compilation of provisional national health surveillance data, the downloadable summaries in the weekly MMWR are based on weekly reports to the CDC by state health departments. This site is a good place to look for specific health surveillance statistics: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/index.html

Back to Top

 National Diabetes Education Program (NDEP): This online resource of information related to diabetes prevention and control was developed through a partnership of the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and more than 200 public and private organizations.  The website is designed so that patients and professionals can learn more about diabetes, download diabetes education resources and tools, and discover how the NDEP is trying to improve the way patients with diabetes are treated:  http://www.ndep.nih.gov/

Back to Top

 Women’s Health Initiative (WHI): This landmark 15-year study began in 1991. It included a series of clinical trials and an observational study that enrolled more than 160,000 healthy postmenopausal women. The individual trials were designed to evaluate the effects of hormone therapy, diet modification, and calcium and vitamin D supplements on heart disease, fractures, and breast and colorectal cancer. Although the actual trials have ended, women who participated in the studies are now part of the follow-up phase, which will last until 2010. You can read about all the trials and results at http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/whi/index.html

Back to Top
Copyright 2010. The Accidental Medical Writer, LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this website may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission.