The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) was originally created in December 1989, with the directive to "support research designed to improve the quality, safety, efficiency, and effectiveness of health care for all Americans." With a budget of close to $270 million, the AHRQ disburses 80 percent of those monies as grants and contracts to researchers at universities and other research...

Founded in 1990, the George Washington University Center for Health Services and Policy is "dedicated to providing policymakers, public health officials, health care administrators, and advocates with the information and ideas they need to improve access to quality, affordable health care." With a staff of several dozen, the Center's work falls into a number of topical areas, such as welfare...

Several new and forthcoming books published by the National Academies Press (NAP) can now be read online through NAP's OpenBook feature, that allows readers to view full text of books (.html).

Released Monday, this large statistical report presents data on the nation's health in 460 pages, including birth and death rates, infant mortality, life expectancy, health personnel and facilities, financing of health care, health insurance and managed care, and much more. This is the 25th annual report of its kind (see the July 28, 2000 Scout Report for a review of 2000's report), and this year...

There is a growing health care crisis in the United States and some groups are particularly vulnerable. This August 2008 report from the Pew Hispanic Center looks into the challenges faced by Hispanics in terms of their access and information about health care, and their findings will be of great use to public health researchers, journalists, and others. The 81-page report was written by Gretchen...

Health care reform has been on the minds of many Americans in the past decade or so, and this recent documentary from the P.O.V. series on PBS takes a critical look at the "human consequences of an increasingly expensive and inaccessible system." Directed by Roger Weisberg, the film draws on the cinema verite style that he deployed in his film "Waging a Living" from 2006. In this film, Weisberg...