This website contains a lot of information and links that make it a little overwhelming to a first time user. Information about regulatory issues was not easy to locate at first glance. There is information on quality indicators and patient safety measures that could be utilized by regulatory and accreditation bodies like The Joint Commission, National Committee for Quality Assurance, and American Medical Accreditation Program. The reports that are generated by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) about National Healthcare Quality could be used by legislative bodies in making decisions about healthcare legislation and public policy. AHRQ creates yearly reports on healthcare quality national and by state that the public or healthcare entities have access to via their website.
Reimbursement issues, specifically pay for performance, can be impacted by the information contained on the AHRQ website. They compile research and create reports on evidence based practice on a variety of topics that healthcare professionals can access and apply to practice, with the goal of increasing performance and subsequently pay. This seems an important means of furthering evidence based practice because the site is free and readily available. There is also a link to the National Guideline Clearinghouse, which contains guidelines for caring for patients with a many different healthcare issues. The National Guideline Clearinghouse provides a means of comparing guidelines from different organizations side by side.
The AHRQ website has a large about of useful information on use of technology in healthcare information. If as a healthcare provider I was interested in integrating a new technology related to healthcare information into my practice I would utilize this site. There is information about liability issues, which is important to most healthcare providers. They worry about malpractice suits, insurance, and other liability issues as well as providing the best care to their clients. The AHRQ also created a report on clinical decision support systems, which would be beneficial prior to investing in such a system.
Ethical considerations about this website may include issues related to were AHRQ gets the information for their reports. While it is beneficial for the healthcare community and patients to have these reports on healthcare quality, the patients who provide the information aren't usually aware that it is being used in such a way. Because currently healthcare entities own patient data, if they remove patient identifiers, they can share this information with other healthcare organization including AHRQ (Hebda & Czar, 2009). Maybe we should be informing patients of this, or maybe current legislation is appropriate because the data can't be connected to the original patient due to lack of identifiers.
Hebda, T., Czar, P. (2009). Handbook of Informatics for Nurses & Healthcare Professionals (4th ed). Upper SAddle River, NJ: Pearson-Prentice Hall
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