Virginia Premier Health Plan, Inc.

Helpful Resources

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality - AHRQ
http://www.ahrq.gov/

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality is the lead Federal agency responsible for improving the quality, safety, efficiency, and effectiveness of health care for all Americans. It is one of the 12 agencies within the Department of Health and Human Services, AHRQ supports research that will improve the quality of health care and promote evidence-based decision making.

American Board of Medical Specialties
http://www.abms.org/

The American Board of Medical Specialties is a not-for-profit organization that contains 24 medical specialty Member Boards. The function of ABMS primarily is to assist its Member Boards in developing and implementing educational and professional standards to evaluate and certify physician specialists. General and Subspecialty Certificates are available for physicians

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
http://www.cdc.gov/

The CDC is one of the major operating components of the Department of Health and Human Services. It's mission is "To promote health and quality of life by preventing and controlling disease, injury, and disability." It's vision for the 21st Century is "Healthy People in a Healthy World—Through Prevention."

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
http://www.cms.hhs.gov/

CMS' Mission -To ensure effective, up-to-date health care coverage and to promote quality care for beneficiaries. CMS' Vision - To achieve a transformed and modernized health care system. CMS will accomplish our mission by continuing to transform and modernize America's health care system.

Department Of Medical Assistance Services
http://www.dmas.virginia.gov/

The Department of Medical Assistance Services also referred to as the Virginia State Medicaid Program.

The Joint Commission
http://www.jointcommission.org/

The Joint Commission evaluates and accredits nearly 15,000 health care organizations and programs in the United States. An independent, not-for-profit organization, The Joint Commission is the nation's predominant standards-setting and accrediting body in health care. Since 1951, The Joint Commission has maintained state-of-the-art standards that focus on improving the quality and safety of care provided by health care organizations. The Joint Commission's comprehensive accreditation process evaluates an organization's compliance with these standards and other accreditation requirements. Joint Commission accreditation is recognized nationwide as a symbol of quality that reflects an organization's commitment to meeting certain performance standards. To earn and maintain The Joint Commission's Gold Seal of Approval™, an organization must undergo an on-site survey by a Joint Commission survey team at least every three years. (Laboratories must be surveyed every two years.)

The Leap Frog Group
http://www.leapfroggroup.org/

The Leapfrog Group is a voluntary program aimed at mobilizing employer purchasing power to alert America's health industry that big leaps in health care safety, quality and customer value will be recognized and rewarded. Among other initiatives, Leapfrog works with its employer members to encourage transparency and easy access to health care information as well as rewards for hospitals that have a proven record of high quality care.

MedlinePlus
http://medlineplus.gov/

MedlinePlus will direct you to information to help answer health questions. MedlinePlus brings together authoritative information from NLM, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and other government agencies and health-related organizations. Preformulated MEDLINE searches are included in MedlinePlus and give easy access to medical journal articles. MedlinePlus also has extensive information about drugs, an illustrated medical encyclopedia, interactive patient tutorials, and latest health news.

The National Committee for Quality Assurance
http://web.ncqa.org/

The National Committee for Quality Assurance is a private, 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization dedicated to improving health care quality. Since its founding in 1990, NCQA has been a central figure in driving improvement throughout the health care system, helping to elevate the issue of health care quality to the top of the national agenda.

Office of the Surgeon General
http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/

The Surgeon General serves as America's chief health educator by providing Americans the best scientific information available on how to improve their health and reduce the risk of illness and injury.

Virginia Department of Health
http://www.vdh.state.va.us/

Their mission is to achieve and maintain optimum personal and community health by emphasizing health promotion, disease prevention and environmental protection.

World Health Organization
http://www.who.int/en/

WHO is the directing and coordinating authority for health within the United Nations system. It is responsible for providing leadership on global health matters, shaping the health research agenda, setting norms and standards, articulating evidence-based policy options, providing technical support to countries and monitoring and assessing health trends.