Resources

RESOURCE / DESCRIPTION

Long-Term Care Ombudsmen are advocates for residents of nursing homes, board and care homes, assisted living facilities and similar adult care facilities. They work to resolve problems of individual residents and to bring about changes at the local, state and national levels to improve care. 

Advances in Skin & Wounds
http://www.woundcarenet.com

Advances in Skin & Wound Care Web site, where you can view content from the journal, access Breaking News from the skin and wound care industry, sign up for E-Alert, and find out how to submit a manuscript to the journal.

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (Formerly AHCPR)
http://www.ahrq.gov

AHRQ is the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality—the Nation's lead Federal agency for research on health care quality, costs, outcomes, and patient safety.

The American Academy of Wound Management is a national multi-disciplinary certifying board for healthcare professionals involved in wound care.

American Dietetic Association is a leading source of food and nutrition services for patients including those with pressure ulcers.

The American Medical Directors Association is the professional association of medical directors and physicians practicing in the long term care continuum, dedicated to excellence in patient care by providing education, advocacy, information, and professional development.

ANA advances the nursing profession by fostering high standards of nursing practice, promoting the economic and general welfare of nurses in the workplace, projecting a positive and realistic view of nursing, and by lobbying the Congress and regulatory agencies on health care issues affecting nurses and the public.

CMSA is an international not-for-profit membership society of case managers, nurses, and allied healthcare professionals. 

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service
(Formerly HCFA)
http://www.cms.hhs.gov

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is a federal agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. CMS runs the Medicare and Medicaid programs - two national health care programs that benefit about 75 million Americans.

A comprehensive online resource of quality improvement information created by CMS for Medicare's National Quality Improvement Priority Topics, including the nursing home setting. Clinical resources include: ADL decline, delirium, infections, pain, physical restraints, pressure ulcers and walking improvement.

MEDLINEplus  Medical Encyclopedia
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/nursinghomes.html

MEDLINEplus, a source for extensive health information from the world's largest medical library, the National Library of Medicine.

National Guideline Clearinghouse
http://www.guideline.gov/index.asp

National Guideline Clearinghouse^™ (NGC), a public resource for evidence-based clinical practice guidelines. NGC is sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (formerly the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research) in partnership with the American Medical Association and the American Association of Health Plans.

National Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel
http://www.npuap.org/

The National Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel (NPUAP) is an independent not-for-profit professional organization dedicated to the prevention and management of pressure ulcers.

National Quality Forum
http://www.qualityforum.org

The National Quality Forum is a not-for-profit membership organization created to develop and implement a national strategy for healthcare quality measurement and reporting

National Quality Measures
http://www.ahcpr.gov/qual/nqmceas.htm

AHRQ issued a call for measures for inclusion in its new National Quality Measures Clearinghouse™ (NQMC), a Web-based repository of tools for measuring health care quality. AHRQ is sponsoring the development of NQMC to promote widespread access to quality measures by the health care community and other interested individuals.

NIAMS
http://www.niams.nih.gov/

The mission of the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases is to support research into the causes, treatment, and prevention of arthritis and musculoskeletal and skin diseases, the training of basic and clinical scientists to carry out this research, and the dissemination of information on research progress in these diseases.

Nursing Home Compare
http://www.medicare.gov/NHCompare/home.asp

The primary purpose of this tool is to provide detailed information about the past performance of every Medicare and Medicaid certified nursing home in the country.

The RAI was designed first and foremost as a comprehensive assessment tool to be used by clinicians in designing individualized care plans and programs for nursing home residents. To do this properly, clinicians must complete the MDS and utilized the RAPs according to instructions provided by CMS in the "Long Term Care Resident Assessment Instrument User's Manual

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is a federal agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. CMS runs the Medicare and Medicaid programs - two national health care programs that benefit about 75 million Americans.

The Mission of the Ombudsman Program is to serve as an advocate for older persons receiving long-term care services. Local Ombudsmen provide older Virginians and their families with information, advocacy, complaint counseling, and assistance in resolving care problems. The program also represents the interests of long-term care consumers before state and federal government agencies and the General Assembly

Senior Navigator
http://www.SeniorNavigator.com

SeniorNavigator provides free information about the health and aging resources available to Virginians. The information focuses on senior related issues such as health and aging, financial concerns, legal questions, health facilities, assisted living and housing, exercise programs, support groups and more.

VHQC
http://www.vhqc.org/

The Virginia Health Quality Center, Virginia's Quality Improvement Organization, assists providers in making successful and meaningful changes in the way care is delivered and the outcomes of that care.  We create partnerships, develop methods and stimulate change for quality improvement that result in healthier communities

Virginia Association of Area Agencies on Aging
http://www.vaaaa.org/

The Virginia Association of Area Agencies on Aging is a private, nonprofit organization designed to take positions on relevant state and federal initiatives and provide public education relevant to the needs of the older Virginians.

The VHQC's objective for the statewide initiative is to assist
nursing home staff to improve their systems for delivering care related to
the publicly-reported clinical topics, specifically in the areas of pain and
pressure ulcers.
 

WCIN- Wound Care Information Network
http://www.medicaledu.com/default.htm

The Wound Care Information Network is the premiere Internet site for free and unbiased wound care information.

World Wide Wounds
http://www.worldwidewounds.com

The premier online resource for dressing materials and practical wound management information.

The Wound Healing Society
http://www.woundheal.org

The Wound Healing Society is a non-profit, international organization composed of clinical and basic scientific investigators. The Society provides a forum for interactive discussions among scientists, physicians, licensed practitioners, industrial representatives and government agencies.

Wound, Ostomy and Continence Nurses Society
http://www.wocn.org

The Wound, Ostomy and Continence Nurses Society, (WOCN), is a professional, international nursing society of more than 3700 nurse professionals who are experts in the care of patients with wound, ostomy and continence problems. Wound, Ostomy and Continence (WOC) Nurses manage conditions such as stomas, draining wounds, fistulas, vascular ulcers, pressure ulcers, neuropathic wounds, urinary incontinence, fecal incontinence, and functional disorders of the bowel and bladder.

Wound, Ostomy and Continence
Nurse Certification Board
http://www.wocncb.org

The Wound, Ostomy and Continence Nursing Certification Board is a professional organization dedicated to providing consumer safety and protection by offering credentialing in the areas of wound, ostomy and continence care nursing.