Primary Government Agencies

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is a Federal agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Programs for which CMS is responsible included Medicare, Medicaid, State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), HIPAA, and CLIA. The CMS website includes Medicare and Medicaid manuals, policy letters, statutory and regulatory text and a great deal of explanatory material.

New York Insurance Department (NYSID)

The Insurance Department regulates health insurers and (in conjunction with the Department of Health) also regulates HMOs operating in New York. Website offerings including regulations, circular letters, and a wealth of consumer and industry information.

New York Department of Health (NYSDOH)

The Health Department (in conjunction with the Insurance Department) regulates HMOs operating in New York. The Department is responsible for access and network sufficiency, including provider contracting activities.The Department also regulates institutional providers such as hospitals and nursing homes and governs the "certificate of need" (CON) process for establishing new health care facilities in New York.

Non-governmental Organizations

American Health Lawyers Association (AHLA)

AHLA is a national association of healthcare attorneys.Website offerings include daily updates on federal health care issues, downloadable documents, explanatory material, and links to additional online research resources.

Healthcare Association of New York State (HANYS)

HANYS advocates for non-profit and public hospitals, health systems, nursing facilities, home care agencies, hospice and adult day care programs, and other related health care facilities throughout New York State. Website offerings include position statements, news, and analysis of recent issues.

National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC)

The NAIC site includes model laws and regulations on many managed care issues and some policy statements.Two great features of the site include:

• a map of the United States linking to each state's Insurance Department; and
• a list of each state's primary HIPAA contacts (you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader to view this document).

National Coalition on Health Care (NCHC)

The NCHC, a non-profit and self-professed "rigorously non-partisan" organization, is comprised of about 150 employer groups, representing approximately 100 million Americans. Website offerings include original research and policy position statements.

National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA)

NCQA accredits health plans based on internally-developed criteria. Site offerings include a "Researcher Page" designed to provide detailed, technical information for individuals and organizations involved in the development of measures, standards, report cards and other such activities.

Other Governmental or Government-affiliated Agencies

Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)

HRSA directs programs that improve the Nation's health by expanding access to comprehensive, quality health care for all Americans. HRSA works to improve and extend life for people living with HIV/AIDS, provide primary health care to medically underserved people, serve women and children through state programs, and train a health workforce that is both diverse and motivated to work in underserved communities.

Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has primary regulatory authority over the manufacturing and marketing of medicines and medical devices. The FDA website includes both consumer and industry information and is fully searchable.

Center for Health Services Research and Policy (CHSRP)

The Center for Health Services Research and Policy (at George Washington University) conducts sponsored health services research and policy analysis on complex health policy issues. Website offerings include the Center's research agenda and an online listing of recent publications.

U.S.Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)

Parent agency of CMS, HRSA, FDA, as well as the Office of Inspector General, website includes links to all of these agencies and additional public health-related material.

Online Journals and Reference Guides

Health Affairs (HA)

A leading online journal of health issues. Visitors to the HA site can view full-text articles from the current issue, view an index of past issues to search by topic or author, or view past issue tables of content.

Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA)

Presitigious medical journal including research findings and policy considerations. Visitors to the JAMA site can view the current table of contents as well as selected articles from the current issue. Past issues are searchable by date and keyword.

New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM)

Preeminent medical journal. Website includes current table of contents and searchable database of previous NEJM articles.

Search Engines

Healthfinder

A government-sponsored search engine specifically aimed at health-related pages. Findings are returned in categories including web resources and organizations, with miniature flags indicating government-sponsored sites. Sites are also categorized by subject matter.

Miscellaneous Health-related Resources

MeSH Headings

What? "MeSH" headings are Medical Subject Headings used to classify medical literature. If you are having trouble finding keywords to search the JAMA or NEJM back issues or IGM, check here to find out the most useful heading to search under.

HealthHippo

A useful collection of research resources, primary material, and policy items. Added features include site-search and extensive indexing.