Resources for you

Here are all the materials and resources we refer to throughout our site, collected in one place.

Materials you can print:

"Quality" health care: what is it and how can you get it?
Find out what quality health care is, why it's important to understand it, and how you can get it.

How can you find trustworthy health information on the web?
Get tips on how to evaluate websites and find out what makes them trustworthy. Includes a list of websites for finding health care information.

Making the most of your medical appointments
Get tips on what to do before, during and after your appointment to be sure you get quality health care.

What is "care that works"?
Find out how to get care for the best results and that is as safe as possible.

Other helpful websites

If you are looking for health information on the internet, be very careful about which websites you use. The websites listed here are sponsored by government agencies, non-profit organizations, and leading medical centers committed to providing balanced, unbiased health information.

Preparing for your medical appointments

Questions are the answer
Tips on how and why to ask your doctor questions. Includes a checklist of questions that you can customize and print.

Staying healthy

Stay Healthy at Any Age, Your Checklist for Health   For Men • For Women
These guidelines tell you what you can do to help stay healthy based on evidence from doing research on screening tests, preventive medicine, and healthy lifestyle behaviors.

Understanding health care quality

Your Guide to Choosing Quality Health Care
Developed by the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to help people make health care decisions using information about quality. The guide is based on research about the information people want and need when choosing health plans, doctors, treatments, hospitals, and long-term care.

Medication safety

Check Your Medicines: Tips for Using Medicines Safely
Provides tips on taking medicines safely.

Drug Interaction Checker
If you take more than one medication, be sure that your drugs are safe to use together. To find out, you can use Drug Interaction Checker to find out whether the medication you take "interacts" with other drugs in harumful ways.

Resources for your health condition

• Having surgery? What you need to know is a guide to non-emergency surgery
  Learn more about your surgery, including how to get ready for it and how soon it might need to be done.
• Next steps after diagnosis: finding information and support
  For a new diagnosis or if you need to make a treatment choice, this webpage gives general advice as well as tips and resources to help you learn more about a specific health problem or condition.
• Oregon Diabetes Resource Bank
  This website provides a variety of educational handouts to help understand diabetes and get quality health care for this condition. One helpful handouts is: Ten tests and exams everyone with diabetes should be getting

Government websites for health information

www.medlineplus.gov
Run by the National Library of Medicine

• Medical encyclopedia with detailed information on medical conditions, prescription drugs, herbal remedies and other supplements.
• Access to Medline, which has publications and summaries of articles in medical journals.

www.cdc.gov
Run by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

• Information on hundreds of health conditions.
• Health-related information and advice for those traveling to other countries.
• Information about public health issues and concerns, such as outbreaks of disease.

www.healthfinder.gov
Run by the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion

• Tips for staying healthy.
• Details on hundreds of diseases and health conditions.
• Links to help you find a doctor and other health providers.

www.ahrq.gov
Run by the Agency for Health Care Research and Quality

• Consumer guides and other information to help you understand and choose "quality" health care.
• Tips for getting the most from your visits for medical care.
• Information on patient safety.