http://www.iha.org/evolve.htm The Evolution of Managed Health Care; This site from the Integrated Healthcare Association presents the key principles, issues, and benefits in Managed Care.
http://www.hcfa.gov/ U.S. Health Care Financing Administration; HCFA is a federal agancy that administers the Medicare, Medicaid, and Child Health Insurance Programs. This extensive site contains information on these programs along with the Balanced Budget Act, Statistics and data, research, and laws and regulations.
http://congress.nw.dc.us/cgi-bin/issue.pl?dir=amerpta Legislative action center. Updates on current legislative issues affecting the practice of physical therapy and links to members of congress.
http://www.medicare.gov/ The Official U.S. Government Site for Medicare Information
http://www.healthlaw.org National Health Law Program; The NHeLP is an organization dedicated to working for justice in health care for low income people. This extensive site includes information on Medicare, Medicaid, Managed Care, advocacy, and many links to other organizations, foundations, and resources.
http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/hlthins.html Health Insurance Statistics; This link from the U.S. Census Bureau provides current statistics on health insurance coverage.
http://www.phc4.org Health Care Cost Containment Council; This independent state agency based in Pennsylvania (PHC4) addresses the problem of escalating health costs.
http://www.hcfa.gov/stats/stats.htm Health Care Costs; This link provided by HCFA presents statistics on national health care indicators, expenditures, and projections for the future.
http://www.apta.org/Advocacy/national APTA Government Affairs; This link from the APTA offers information on the impact of the Balanced Budget Act on Physical Therapy and skilled nursing facility prospective payment system. Other legislative, regulatory, and reimbursement issues are presented.
http://www.smgusa.com/texcr.htm Trends in Extended Care; This site by SMG Marketing Group provides an overview of the U.S. nursing home market.
http://www.apta.org/Advocacy/national/National8 Links to three reports issued by the Office of the Inspector General on August 30, 1999. The first relates to the medical necessity of physical therapy and occupational therapy services furnished in SNFs. The second relates to improper billing of therapy, and the third deals with access to SNFs under the prospective payment system.
http://www.nahc.org Home Care Online; This site provided by the National Association for Home Care provides resourceful information regarding home care and hospice community and PPS regulations for home health (download).
http://www.apta.org/Advocacy/views/view4#9 Simple question-and-answer format that addresses major changes in home health agencies as a result of the Balanced Budget Amendment.
http://www.acponline.org/journals/annals/supplement/suppltoc.htm Measuring Quality, Outcomes, and Cost of Care; This site provides a colllection of articles from the Annals of Internal Medicine which is published by the American College of Physicians.
http://www.hcfa.gov/medicare/mcarpti.htm Managed Care Documentation Guidelines; This medical record documentation guideline provided by HCFA can be downloaded to help better understand appropriate Medicare documentation.
Part I: http://www.apta.org/pt_magazine/Nov96/utilization1.htm
Part II: http://www.apta.org/pt_magazine/Nov96/utilization2.htm
Two-part article published in November 1996 in PT Magazine. Provides history and some of the issues
behind today's utilization review reform efforts.
http://www.carf.org/index.html Quality Management and Improvement; The Rehabilitation Accreditation Commission develops and maintains practical and relevant standards of quality for certain health care services and programs.
http://www.ahcpr.gov Quality Assessment and Measurment; This site provided by the Agency for Health Care Research and Quality is a useful resource for information on health services research, quality assessment, clinical information, and consumer health.
http://www.jcaho.org Quality Health Care; The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations is the largest and most well known standards-setting and accrediting body in health care. Its mission is to improve the quality of care provided to the public.
http://www.medicare.gov/Health/overview.asp Medicare Preventive Services; This site lists the preventative services that are offered and covered by Medicare. Download a pamphlet from
http://www.csufresno.edu/ptpatiented Physical Therapy Patient Education Sourcebook A comprehensive site created for physical therapists, offering a variety of patient education resources relating to prevention of injury, disability and associated health problems.
http://www.netreach.net/~wmanning/ Health Law; This site is for those interested in health care law. It provides many links to other related topics.
http://www.aispub.com/today.htm Current Health Care News; This site is a virtual newsletter published by Atlantic Information Systems which provides current, up-to-date health care news regarding managed care.
http://www.apta.org The official website for The American Physical Therapy Association.
http://www.lawlib.slu.edu/centers/hlthlaw/links.htm Health Law; This site provided by The Saint Louis University School of Health Law provides extensive links to many health law resources.