Assuring Quality Care
Provider Resources

- The first public report on preventable adverse events in Minnesota hospitals. This report summarizes completed event reports that hospitals have submitted during the transition period of the law, from July 2003 to October 2004.

- Minnesota Dept. of Health 2005 legislative report. This status report discusses recommendations to use a series of linked strategies that promote timely access to and appropriate use of evidence-based health care guidelines in systems that are designed to continually improve outcomes.

- The Institute for Clinical Systems Improvement (ICSI) is a Minnesota-based collaboration of health care organizations and providers. ICSI has developed best practice guidelines for both physicians and patients.

- Stratis Health is a non-profit organization that provides clinical quality improvement support to Minnesota health care providers in the hospital, physician office, skilled nursing facility, and home health care settings, offering Quality Resources Kits, training workshops, and other resources.

- This site provides health care professionals with a comprehensive database of evidence-based clinical practice guidelines and related documents.

- The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) offers a publicly available database of evidence-based clinical practice guidelines and related documents. Guidelines are available in English and Spanish.

- The Cochrane Collaboration is an independent, international organization that promotes evidence-based medicine and publishes systematic reviews of health care interventions.

- The American Medical Directors Association (AMDA) publishes Clinical Practice Guidelines for use in long-term care settings. The guidelines were created by interdisciplinary workgroups using an evidence- and consensus-based process, and reviewed by national organizations and individual experts.

- MAPS is a public-private partnership among the Minnesota Department of Health, Minnesota Hospital Association, Minnesota Medical Association and over 50 other health care organizations working together to improve patient safety.

- NCPS is associated with the Department of Veterans Affairs. This site contains information for providers on reducing and preventing adverse medical events while enhancing health care delivery.

- View a list of CLAS recommendations proposed to help health care organizations and providers ensure equal access to quality health care by diverse populations.

- (PDF, requires ) These standards for culturally and linguistically appropriate services (CLAS) are designed to address the needs of racial, ethnic and linguistic population groups that experience unequal access to health services.

- healthfinder.gov® gives readers an overview of the ninety million adult Americans who lack the ability to understand basic health information.

- This Harvard School of Public Health site is designed for professionals in health and education who are interested in health literacy. It contains useful materials for health-related work.

- Learn more about the American Medical Association Foundation's Health Literacy Campaign, and how providers can help patients better understand health information.

- Connect to the Institute of Medicine's report on health literacy and recommendations to reduce its negative effects.