WebJunction

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

AHRQ supports research on health care systems, health care quality and cost issues, access to health care, and effectiveness of medical treatments. It provides evidence-based information on health care outcomes and quality of care.

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

Working with states and other partners, CDC provides a system of health surveillance to monitor and prevent disease outbreaks (including bioterrorism), implement disease prevention strategies, and maintain national health statistics. Provides for immunization services, workplace safety, and environmental disease prevention. CDC also guards against international disease transmission, with personnel stationed in more than 25 foreign countries. The CDC director is also administrator of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, which helps prevent exposure to hazardous substances from waste sites on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's National Priorities List, and develops toxicological profiles of chemicals at these sites. 

Firstgov.gov – Health and Nutrition
http://www.firstgov.gov/Citizen/Topics/Health.shtml

A portal to official information and services from the U.S. government that provides access to the following:

• Food, nutrition, and fitness
• Health by population group
• Health insurance
• Health news, reference, and portals
• Health services in your community
• Health topics from A to Z

Food and Drug Administration
http://www.fda.gov

Assures the safety of foods and cosmetics, and the safety and efficacy of pharmaceuticals, biological products, and medical devices. 

Health Resources and Services Administration
http://www.hrsa.gov

HRSA provides access to essential health care services for people who are low-income, uninsured or who live in rural areas or urban neighborhoods where health care is scarce.  The agency helps prepare the nation's health care system and providers to respond to bioterrorism and other public health emergencies, maintains the National Health Service Corps and helps build the health care workforce through training and education programs. HRSA administers a variety of programs to improve the health of mothers and children and serves people living with HIV/AIDS through the Ryan White CARE Act programs. HRSA also oversees the nation's organ transplantation system.

Health.gov
www.health.gov  

A portal to the Web sites of a variety of multi-agency health initiatives and activities of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and other Federal departments and agencies.  Includes links to sources for:

• General Health Information

  • healthfinder® (Federal Web site for consumers, developed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services together with other Federal agencies.)
  • National Health Information Center
  • National Women’s Health Information Center
  • MedlinePlus®
  • National Health Observances
  • Federal Health Information Centers
  • Toll-Free Numbers for Health Information
• Special Initiatives

  • Best Practice Initiative o Healthy People 2010
  • Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005
  • Steps to a HealthierUS
• Health News
• Federal Agencies
  

  • U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) o HHS Agencies
  • Office of Public Health and Science
  • Office of the Surgeon General
  • Other key government agencies with direct health responsibilities (DoD, VA, EPA…)

HealthFinder®
http://www.healthfinder.gov

A Federal Web site for consumers, developed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services together with other Federal agencies.  Used as a resource for finding quality government and nonprofit health and human services information on the Internet, healthfinder® links to carefully selected information and Web sites from over 1,500 health-related organizations.   The healthfinder® project is coordinated by the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (ODPHP) and its National Health Information Center, with the active participation of a Steering Committee composed of representatives of the Federal agencies who include consumer health information specialists, librarians, and others engaged in the provision or use of online consumer health information.  Resources include:

• Information on diseases, conditions, and injuries
• Health related organizations
• Drug database with information on hundreds of prescription and over-the-counter drugs
• Locator tools for providers, facilities, clinics, etc.
• Online checkups (quizzes, knowledge tests, and a variety of assessment tools)
• Updated health news
• Alternative medicine information
• Health library
• Consumer guides (e.g. health care providers, ratings of hospitals and nursing homes, guides to health insurance, how to report fraud or make a complaint, and privacy issues)
• Information for special populations (e.g. Kids, Spanish-speakers, American Indians and Alaska Natives, Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and other Pacific Islanders)

HealthierUS.gov
http://www.healthierus.gov

Government sponsored project combining four keys for a healthier America: Be physically active every day, Eat a nutritious diet, Get preventive screenings, and Make healthy choices.

Medline®

The National Library of Medicine (NLM)’s premier bibliographic database covering the fields of medicine, nursing, dentistry, veterinary medicine, the health care system, and the preclinical sciences.  MEDLINE® contains bibliographic citations and author abstracts from more than 5,000 biomedical journals published in the United States and 80 other countries. The database contains over 15 million citations dating back to the mid-1950s. Coverage is worldwide, but most records are from English-language sources or have English abstracts.  Medline® is accessed through PubMed (http://www.pubmed.gov).  For more about Medline®, see the Medline® fact sheet at http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/factsheets/medline.html.  Read “What’s the Difference Between Medline® and PubMed®?” at http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/factsheets/dif_med_pub.html. 

MedlinePlus®
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus

MedlinePlus directs users to information to help answer health questions. MedlinePlus brings together authoritative information from the National Library of Medicine (NLM), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and other government agencies and health-related organizations. Includes:

• Preformulated MEDLINE searches that give easy access to medical journal articles.
• Information on a variety of health topics
• Information about drugs and supplements
• An illustrated medical encyclopedia and a medical dictionary
• Interactive patient tutorials and surgery videos 
• The latest health news
• Directories for doctors, dentists, hospitals, and local resources for health-related issues

National Center for Health Statistics
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs

The Nation’s principal health statistics agency, compiles statistical information to guide actions and policies to improve the health of Americans.  NCHS data allow users and researchers to:

• document the health status of the population and of important subgroups
• identify disparities in health status and use of health care by race/ethnicity, socio-economic status, region, and other population characteristics
• describe our experiences with the health care system
• monitor trends in health status and health care delivery
• identify health problems
• support biomedical and health services research
• provide information for making changes in public policies and programs
• evaluate the impact of health policies and programs

Popular and highlighted resources and topics include:

• Help obtaining birth, death, marriage, or divorce certificates
• FASTSTATS A to Z
• CDC Growth Charts (illustrate the distribution of selected body measurements in U.S. children)
• NHANES (National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey)
• Deaths/Mortality
• ICD (International Classification of Diseases) Information
• Births/Natality
• NVSS (National Vital Statistics System)
• Obesity
• Micro-data Access resources
• Tabulated State Data

National Institutes of Health
http://www.nih.gov

The world's premier medical research organization, supporting over 38,000 research projects nationwide in diseases including cancer, Alzheimer's, diabetes, arthritis, heart ailments and AIDS. Includes 27 separate health institutes and centers.  Website covers the following topics:

• Health information (A-Z index)
• Grants & Funding Opportunities
• News & Events
• Research Training & Scientific Resources
• Institutes, Centers & Offices
• Medical Research Issues

PubMed®
http://www.pubmed.gov

PubMed®, available via the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) Entrez retrieval system, provides access to citations from biomedical literature, including MEDLINE.  It was developed by the NCBI at the National Library of Medicine (NLM). Entrez is the text-based search and retrieval system used at NCBI for services including PubMed®, Nucleotide and Protein Sequences, Protein Structures, Complete Genomes, Taxonomy, OMIM, and many others.  Its LinkOut service provides access to full-text articles at journal Web sites and other related Web resources. PubMed® also provides access and links to the other Entrez molecular biology resources.  Read “What’s the Difference Between Medline® and PubMed®?” at http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/factsheets/dif_med_pub.html. 

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
http://www.hhs.gov

The United States government's principal agency for protecting the health of all Americans and providing essential human services, especially for those who are least able to help themselves.  The department includes more than 300 programs, covering a wide spectrum of activities.  Highlights include.

• Health and social science research
• Preventing disease, including immunization services
• Assuring food and drug safety
• Medicare (health insurance for elderly and disabled Americans) and Medicaid (health insurance for low-income people)
• Health information technology
• Financial assistance and services for low-income families
• Improving maternal and infant health
• Head Start (pre-school education and services)
• Faith-based and community initiatives
• Preventing child abuse and domestic violence
• Substance abuse treatment and prevention
• Services for older Americans, including home-delivered meals
• Comprehensive health services for Native Americans
• Medical preparedness for emergencies, including potential terrorism.

U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps
http://www.usphs.gov

A uniformed service of more than 6,000 health professionals who serve in many HHS and other federal agencies. The Surgeon General is head of the Commissioned Corps.