Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Center for Quality Improvement & Patient Safety 6011 Executive Blvd., Suite 200 Rockville, MD. 20852 (301) 594-1783 www.ahrq.gov Medical Errors & Patient Safety www.ahrq.gov/qual/errorsix.htm 5 Steps to Safer Health Care www.ahrq.gov/consumer/5steps.htm 20 Tips to Prevent Medical Error www.ahrq.gov/consumer/20tips.htm Questions to ask your Surgeon before Surgery www.ahrq.gov/consumer/surgery.htm A Guide for Patients and Families: Improving Health Care Quality www.ahrq.gov/consumer/qntlite  20 Tips to Help Prevent Medical Errors in Children www.ahrq.gov/consumer/20tipkid.htm  Medical Errors - The Scope of the Problem www.ahrq.gov/qual/errback.htm  AARP 601 E St. N.W. Washington, DC. 20049 www.aarp.org Free Brochures: Choosing Good Care: A Family Guide to Finding a Nursing Home (D17064) Solving Nursing Home Problems: A Guide for Families (D17065) Partners in Caring: A Family Guide to Working with Nursing Assistants for Better Nursing Home Care (D17310) Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) www.hcfa.gov/quality Internet access to Medicare's Nursing Home Compare Database, with information on every Medicare/Medicaid-certified nursing home in the country, organized by state, county and city.  www.medicare.gov/Nursing/Overview.asp Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) Alerts for Patients page containing a listing of frequent medication errors and how to avoid them, general information and advice on medication safety for consumers www.ismp.org/Pages/Consumer.html National Patient Safety Foundation 1120 MASS MoCA Way North Adams, MA. 01247 (413) 663-8900 www.npsf.org National On Line Fact Sheets & Brochures in Patient Safety www.npsf.org/html/online_resources.html You Can Help Improve Patient Safety  www.npsf.org/html/patients.html#what  Preventing Infections in the Hospital  www.npsf.org/download/PreventingInfections.pdf Role of the Patient Advocate www.npsf.org/download/PatientAdvocate.pdf Safety as You Go from Hospital to Home www.npsf.org/download/SafetyAsYouGo.pdf  National Agenda for Action:  Patients and Families in Patient Safety:  Nothing About Me, Without Me.  www.npsf.org/download/AgendaFamilies.pdf PULSEAmerica PO Box 353 Wantagh, NY.  11793 (516) 579-4711 www.pulseamerica.org Teen Brochures:   For Young Men....Talking to Your Doctor   Teens and Your Doctor Visit   For Young Women...Talking to Your Doctor   Teens and Your Health Check-Up   Teens and Your Emotional & Physical Health U.S. Food & Drug Administration Center for Drug Evaluation and Research 1-888-INFO-FDA (1-888-463-6332) 5600 Fishers Lane Rockville, MD. 20857-0001 www.fda.gov/cder/drug/MedErrors/default.htm  Medication Errors www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/psn/index.cfm  Patient Safety News www.fda.gov/cder/consumerinfo/default.htm  Consumer Drug Information Consumer Drug Information Sheets posted on this site give general information about newly approved prescription drugs. Only information about drugs approved since January 1998 appears on this page. Since these drugs are newly approved, they may not yet be on the market. For more information on drug availability, please check with your physician, pharmacist or other health care provider. Virginians Improving Patient Care and Safety (VIPC&S) 4205 Dover Road Richmond, VA. 23221 (804) 353-2721 ext. 138 www.vipcs.org  Tips on safe guarding your health care Medicines  www.vipcs.org/patients/medicine.htm Hospital Stays  www.vipcs.org/patients/hospitals.htm Surgery  www.vipcs.org/patients/surgery.htm Home Health Equipment  www.vipcs.org/patients/homehealth.htm General Safety  www.vipcs.org/patients/end.htm