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Foundation for Healthy Communities
The Foundation for Healthy Communities is a not-for-profit corporation that exists to improve health and health care, and includes New Hampshire hospitals, health plans, clinicians, home care agencies and public policy leaders. It was founded in 1968 by the New Hampshire Hospital Association as an educational and research organization for hospitals. The Foundation’s primary objectives are:

• To collect, analyze, and evaluate data about health and about the delivery, quality, management and organization of health services.
• To promote, sponsor and conduct applied research and scientific investigation relative to quality, health care delivery process improvement and health policy.
• To communicate information, sponsor education and training, and facilitate innovation and access for the improvement of health and the creation of healthy communities.

They can be found on the Internet at www.nhqualitycare.org.

Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations
JCAHO has a rating service on its website called “Quality Check.” This service allows you to search hospitals for JCAHO accreditation, and allows you to compare up to six hospitals on key indicators of quality of care in four treatment areas: heart attack, heart failure, community acquired pneumonia, and pregnancy and related conditions. "Quality Check" can be found on the Internet at www.jcaho.org.

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)
CMS has a rating service on its website called "Hospital Compare." This service has quality measures on how often hospitals provide recommended care that an adult should get if being treated for a heart attack, heart failure, or pneumonia. This service allows you to compare up to 12 hospitals to the national benchmark. "Hospital Compare" can be found on the internet at www.medicare.gov.

Agency for Healthcare Research (AHRQ)
Currently housed within the Department of Health and Human Services, AHRQ supports health services research that will improve the quality of health care and promote evidence-based decision-making. According to their website, AHRQ sponsors and conducts research that provides evidence-based information on health care outcomes; quality; and cost, use and access. The information helps health care decision makers make more informed decisions and improve the quality of health care services. They can be found on the Internet at www.ahrq.gov.

Healthgrades
Healthgrades.com is an Internet-based provider that assigns ratings for the following areas: Cardiac, Neurosciences, Neurosurgery, Orthopedics, Pulmonary/Respiratory, Obstetrics and Vascular Surgery. The score is derived using outcomes for specific procedures in each specialty. They can be found on the Internet at www.healthgrades.com.