Health Care Links.  A comprehensive web site prepared by a UFCW nurse from UFCW Local 141 in Washington State.  This site has extensive links to healthcare publications, healthcare search engines, government agencies, nursing organizations, hospital web sites and a host of medical information of interest to nurses and other healthcare workers.

Agency for Quality Care and Research.  Analyzes DRGs -- diagnosis related groups -- to examine quality of care at a particular hospital.  DRGs are a classification of patient cases that are expected to require similar hospital resources and treatment.  The federal agency, Agency for Health Care Policy and Research , has conducted a nation-wide study which provides national averages for DRGs (click on the different quality assessment reports)

The American Nurses Association has an excellent web site for nurse related legislation on on the federal and state level.  It includes lists of legislators, state and federal, and news updates on legislation.  it also includes extensive links to related sites.

American Hospital Directory will tell you how the hospital is controlled (for profit, non-profit, government, church, etc.), the number of employees, some basic financial information and the average charges for the main departments.  I also provides a list of the additional medical units that are connected to the main hospital.  If the hospital has a web site, the Directory provides a link.

American Hospital Association is the national organization that represents and serves 5,000 member hospitals and health care systems.  Their web site has a fairly comprehensive list of links to other Internet web sites on hospitals, government agencies and state hospital associations.

Voluntary Hospital Association  is a nation-wide network of community-owned hospitals and health networks.  Their web site provides information and links to its members and research, press releases, and legislative advocacy.

National Association of Public Hospitals and Health has represented the nation's urban safety net health systems, and the people they serve, since 1981 and has over 100 member public hospitals and health systems.

National Citizens Coalition for Nursing Home Reform (NCCNHR).  This is the site of the largest nursing home reform advocacy group in the country.  The site has links to many other groups and agencies concerned with nursing home care.

Nursing Home INFO.  This site allows you to search for a specific nursing home or all the facilities in a geographic area.  Particularly for the large chains it will provide a list of homes owned by the same company in one state.

National Senior Citizens Law Center.  This site is an excellent source of information about nursing home law and current legal developments affecting nursing homes.

Modern Healthcare  is published by Crain Communications.  It is a weekly business news magazine serving healthcare management, including both nursing homes and hospitals.  Recent editions are available free in the web.  New editions are posted weekly at 2:00 p.m.

Public Citizen's Health Research Group was founded by Ralph Nader and Dr. Sidney Wolfe in 1971.  They conduct research to support system-wide changes in health care policy form a consumer/patient perspective.

McKnight's Long-Term Care News.  One-year subscription is $44.95.  Phone 1-800-451-7838, extension 3628 to subscribe.  Good monthly source of company-oriented information.  Web site contains summaries of the most recent edition and some links to other related sources.