The AHRQ Website

Well, once again I was enlightened. That seems to be happening a lot lately. The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality was something that I had not looked at. I have gone to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, but never linked into this site. This is definite a place to get more familiar with. This is a huge site that is a little intimidating.
In looking for regulatory information, the AHRQ has a link that leads to “State and Local Policymaker” which in turn gives information about The Users Liaison Program (ULP). Their purpose is to, “disseminates health services research findings for State and local health policymakers in easily understandable and usable formats through interactive onsite workshops, teleconferences, distance learning programs, and research syntheses”. There are links for quality, cost and financing, information and data systems, and ethical subjects such as behavioral health, special populations and racial and ethnic disparities (AHRQ, 2008). What a great way to see what's happening in your state.
I used the AHRQ search to see what putting in the word “accreditation” would link me to and it brought me to a new window titled “Health Care Report Card Compendium” there were many links to reports for information on accreditation status of health care organizations(AHRQ, 2008).
In searching this site for reimbursement issues there is again a lot of information. An example of what was available was I looked at the information that the AHRQ gave as far as Pay for Performance (P4P) programs that are designed for health care providers and offer incentives to them when their care meets a certain quality of care is met. The AHRQ give resources for finding research information they have conducted concerning P4Ps (AHRQ, 2006).

I first smiled when I noticed the link to Evidence-Based Practice under the Clinical Information Menu but, the first link I went to was AHRQs “Knowledge Transfer Initiative” which was listed under “Special Interest”. Here I saw one of the goals listed as: “Enhance awareness and increase knowledge among users about available tools, research, and products of AHRQ” (AHRQ, 2008, n. p.). I felt that the information offered here were very applicable in considering the acquisition, use, and management of a healthcare information system. There was so much information available, but this statement is an example of what they suggest in using a system to help manage their data and make it assessable and usable:
"To administer care management programs, States can contract with an external organization, undertake in-house operations, or use a hybrid of the two. As a result, care management models lie on a continuum, with three general categories—often referred to as buy, build, and assemble—as shown…The majority of States use a model between the two ends of the continuum or adopt a combination of these models" (AHRQ, 2008, n. p.).
Another link I found in looking for ethical considerations on this website was the National Guideline Clearinghouse or NCG. This is a database originally started by the AHRQ, the American Medical Association (AMA) and the America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP). It is a data base for guidelines for using EBP and has a wealth of documents related to this.
In my humble opinion I feel that this is a wealth of information availble to both healthcare providers and the general public. The intention is to provide informations that has been found to be best practice. They state their mission as “to improve the quality, safety, efficiency, and effectiveness of health care for all Americans”(AHRQ, 2008, n. p.).
The only problem may be in getting those who need this information the most, access.
References
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Retreived April 17, 2009 from http://www.guideline.gov/about/about.aspx

AHRQ's Knowledge Transfer/Implementation Program. November 2008. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. http://www.ahrq.gov/news/ktint.htm

AHRQ Resources on AHRQ Resources on Pay for Performance (P4P) (P4P). March 2006. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. http://www.ahrq.gov/qual/pay4per.htm

The National Guideline Clearinghouse. 2009. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Retreived April 17, 2009 from http://www.guideline.gov/about/about.aspx