Links to the World -- Health

The sites listed on this page are not created, maintained, or endorsed by the Minnesota Legislature.

Public Health and Policy: Minnesota	Public Health and Policy: National
Health Insurance: Minnesota	Health Insurance: National
General Health and Wellness	Mental Health
Complementary and Alternative Health

Public Health and Policy: Minnesota

• DATANET County Health Profiles -- More than 200 health indicators for all Minnesota counties and the state organized into five groups: demographic and vital statistics, morbidity and health care utilization data, chemical health indicators, environmental health data, and maternal and child health data.
Minnesota Board of Medical Practice -- The Board administers the Medical Practices Act, which creates minimum standards for licensure. Includes a link to the Health Professional Database, a directory of licensed health professionals in Minnesota and their disciplinary status.
• Minnesota Department of Health -- This official state Web site includes health statistics, information on department functions, and much more. The Health Economics Program's Reports to the Legislature include background information on many topics such as Minnesota health care coverage and uncompensated health care.
• Minnesota Health Information -- A website from the Governor's Health Cabinet to provide information to enable Minnesotans to be better health care consumers.
• Minnesota Hospital Association -- MHA is a trade association representing Minnesota's hospitals and health systems. This site includes links to their Hospital Reports.
• Minnesota Injury Data Access System (MIDAS) -- An interactive database of injury and violence statistics from the Minnesota Dept. of Health. Reports can be generated by specific county, for a type of injury, or by gender, timeframe, or other factor.
• Minnesota Medical Association -- News, legislative alerts, and background from "medicine's voice in Minnesota."
Minnesota RxConnect Online -- A site from the state of Minnesota providing Minnesotans with information on prescription medicine, safety and cost-saving tips, and programs to help low-income Minnesotans pay for prescription medications. This site also provides Minnesotans with information about accessing lower-cost prescription medicine from Canada.

Public Health and Policy: National

• American Public Health Association -- News and information relating to disease prevention and health promotion, including the American Journal of Public Health.
• Bioethics.net -- A site on the moral implications of science, medicine, and research. Supported by the University of Pennsylvania's Center of Bioethics.
• BCBS Health Issues -- From the BlueCross BlueShield Association, this site provides research and analysis of current health care news issues. There is also state-by-state healthcare information available on the "Research" page.
• Center for Law and the Public's Health -- From Johns Hopkins University and Georgetown University, the Center acts as a resource on public health law, ethics, and policy for public health practitioners, lawyers, policy-makers, and others. Includes model legislation that addresses current public health issues.
• Center for Studying Health System Change -- Public policy research on health insurance and health care, with a community focus.
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention -- This federal site provides access to health information, health for travelers, and public health statistics. There is a great deal of information about diseases at Health Topics A-Z. National Center for Health Statistics provides health data, information on the Center, and publications.
• Commonwealth Fund -- Researches health care policy and practice with the goal of improving the health care system. Numerous reports on state health care and policy.
• FedStats: Health Statistics -- Easy access to U.S. government health-related resources, including background information, articles and links relating to health issues and policy.
• Georgetown University Health Policy Institute -- Provides state-by-state guides for consumers as well as reports, including the Summary of Key Consumer Protections in Individual Health Insurance Markets.
Healthcare -- One of the issues followed by stateline.org, a project of the Pew Center for the States and an excellent source of current information including newspaper stories from around the country.
• Health Privacy Project -- From the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute, this site offers consumer information, federal legislation, and state-by-state comparisons of health privacy laws.
• Health Policy Tracking Service -- This website is a good source for state legislative information, policy analysis, and news.
• Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation -- An independent health care philanthropy focusing on health policy information. This site contains background on Medicaid, Medicare, the uninsured, HIV/AIDS, and reproductive health. State Health Facts Online contains the latest state-level data on demographics, health, and health policy, including health coverage, access, financing, and state legislation, and the State-Specific Rx Drug Costs & Spending report is also available, as is the Medicaid Resource Book.
• Heritage Foundation: Health Care -- Policy and news from the Heritage Foundation.
• Institute of Medicine -- Part of the National Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Medicine provides information and advice concerning health and science policy to government, health professionals, and the public. This site provides access to recent reports and studies carried out by the IOM.
• Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations -- A national organization which evaluates and accredits healthcare organizations. They provide a searchable database of their evaluations of health care organizations from all over the country.
• National Academy for State Health Policy (NASHP) -- A forum of state health policymakers, NASHP provides statistical information and state-by-state comparisons regarding a variety of public health and policy issues.
• National Center for Health Workforce Information and Analysis -- The site from the federal Health Resources and Services Administration tracks and disseminates statistics on the healthcare workforce on individual states and the United States as a whole. Includes State Health Workforce Profiles.
• National Conference of State Legislatures: Health -- News and information on current health issues including the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) and an index to NCSL health-related materials. Free registration required.
• Robert Wood Johnson Foundation -- Statistics and research reports on a variety of public health topics, from alcohol and drugs to health insurance coverage and end-of-life care.
• U.S. Department of Health and Human Services -- Includes information on the department and its activities as well as subject access to health topics. Includes the Bureau of Health Professions providing information on healthcare quality and healthcare workforce trends, as well as various practitioner data banks.

Health Insurance: Minnesota

• Minnesota Council of Health Plans -- Represents Minnesota health care organizations. Includes information on Minnesota Health Care Statistics.
• Minnesota Department of Human Services -- This Minnesota agency oversees Minnesota's publicly funded health care programs, including Minnesota's Medical Assistance Program (MA), General Assistance Medical Care (GAMC), and MinnesotaCare.
• State Health Facts Online: Minnesota -- Minnesota information on Medicaid and the uninsured, from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Other states can be found at State Health Information.

Health Insurance: National

• Census Bureau's Health Insurance Data -- Children's health insurance data, general data on health insurance coverage, and the report Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2003 .
• Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) -- Formerly known as the Health Care Financing Administration. This site includes policy, statistics, and consumer information on HIPAA, Medicare, SCHIP, and Medicaid. The Medicaid Statistics and Data is a valuable source of data, as is the Medicare Coverage Database.
• Medicare.gov -- The official Medicare website. Includes contact information and evaluation tools in addition to basic information, as well as Nursing Home Compare, a database with information about the past performance of every Medicare and Medicaid certified nursing home in the country.
• Coalition Against Insurance Fraud -- State and federal legislation, news and statistics regarding insurance fraud. Includes a database of state anti-fraud statutes.

General Health and Wellness

• American Academy of Family Physicians -- Clinical and consumer health information, as well as access to back issues of their journal American Family Physician. This site also provides access to state and federal government statistics.
• American Dental Association -- Dentistry-related information, including an A-Z topics list.
• American Medical Association -- Consumer health information, as well as recent issues of the Journal of the American Medical Association and American Medical News.
• American Nurses Association -- News and information related to the profession of nursing.
• Healthfinder -- A gateway consumer health site from the United States government, Healthfinder offers contact and background information on AIDS, cancer, diabetes, and other topics.
• Mayo Clinic -- Featuring Mayo Clinic publications, clinic history, and development as well as health and wellness information provided by Mayo Health O@sis.
• Merck Manual -- An interactive version of this standard medical reference book is available online.
• National Institutes of Health -- Health information, such as publications, fact sheets, clinical trials, and health hotlines, and scientific resources, such as journals and research protocols, from the NIH. The NIH also provides access to PubMed, the free Internet version of MEDLINE, a database containing over 11 million references to medical articles, and MEDLINEplus, a database of information on thousands of prescription and over-the-counter medications.
• National Library of Medicine -- A wealth of health and wellness information from the world's largest medical library.
• National Network of Libraries in Medicine -- Health information from a program coordinated by the National Library of Medicine.
• New England Journal of Medicine -- The full-text online version of one of the pre-eminent U.S. medical journals.
• PubMed -- The free Internet version of MEDLINE, a database containing over 11 million references to medical articles, provided by the National Library of Medicine and the National Insitutes of Health.
• Quackwatch -- An extensive guide and background on "health fraud, quackery, and intelligent decisionmaking" about health products and services.
• University of Minnesota Bio-Medical Library -- Includes Health and Medicine in the News, references to journal articles on topics mentioned in Star Tribune newspaper articles.

Mental Health

• Center for Mental Health Services -- A service of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Includes statistics and information on state agencies, facilities, and grants.
• DHS Mental Health -- The Minnesota Department of Human Services' Mental Health Division.
• Mental Health Association of Minnesota -- News and information about mental illness and Minnesota's mental health system.
• Minnesota Office of the Ombudsman for Mental Health and Mental Retardation -- Minnesota's government advocate for citizens in Minnesota's mental health system. Links to reports and the Civil Commitment Resource and Training Center.
• NAMI -- Produced by the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, this site provides information and advocacy issues relating to mental illness.
• National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors -- Research and best practices on public mental health at the state level. Links to position papers on topics such as insurance discrimination and civil committment of sex offenders.
• National Institute of Mental Health -- Research and information on the symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment of mental illnesses.
• National Mental Health Association -- News, legislative information, and advocacy from this national nonprofit organization.
• President's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health -- A presidential commission appointed to examine federal, state, and local mental health systems.
• Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration -- The federal agency charged with administering mental health and substance abuse treatment and prevention programs. Links to a number of clearinghouses.

Complimentary and Alternative Health

• Office of Unlicensed Complimentary and Alternative Health Care Practice -- From the Minnesota Department of Health, this page has regulatory and other information for practitioners of alternative medicine in Minnesota.
• Alternative Medicine Foundation -- Information on evidence-based research resources for health care professionals, patients, and consumers regarding the integration of alternative and conventional medicine. Includes a database of clinical herbal suppplement information.
• Alternative Medicine Homepage -- A bibliography of alternative medicine sites from the University of Pittsburgh.
• ConsumerLab.com -- An independent organization which tests the quality and potency of a variety of dietary supplements and other alternative care products.
• National Center for Alternative and Complementary Medicine -- A branch of the National Institutes of Health dedicated to exploring complementary and alternative healing practices in the context of rigorous science. They have a variety of fact sheets providing information on various topics, including acupuncture and alternative cancer treatments. Includes a link to CAM on PubMed, a subset of PubMed, the NIH's free Internet version of MEDLINE, with access to citations to journal articles related to complementary and alternative medicine.
• Office of Cancer Complementary and Alternative Medicine -- Information and research on complementary and alternative cancer treatments from the National Institutes of Health.
• Office of Dietary Supplements -- Dietary and herbal supplement information and research from the National Institutes of Health.