Informational Resources

Be Informed: Questions to Ask Your Doctor Before You Have Surgery is an easy-to-read pamphlet that outlines important questions for patients to ask their doctor when a surgical procedure has been recommended.
Go to: www.ahrq.gov/consumer/surgery.htm

Copies of both these booklets are available by writing to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality at:
AHRQ Publications Clearinghouse
P. O. Box <8547
Silver Spring, MD 20907;
by calling toll-free 800/358-9295;
or by visiting the AHRQ Web site: www.ahrq.gov

Telephone Referrals

Internet Resources

Health Care Advance Directives A health care advance directive expresses a person's desires concerning his or her health care, including a living will and a health care surrogate designation.
Go to: http://ahca.myflorida.com/MCHQ/Health_Facility_Regulation/HC_Advance_Directives/adv_dir.pdf

Florida Cancer Clinical Trials Cooperative This free and confidential resource provides cancer patients, families and caregivers information about clinical trial treatment options currently available in Florida and throughout the United States.
Go to: www.floridacancertrials.com

Florida Practitioner Profile For individuals who want to search for license information about their health care practitioner.
Go to: www.doh-mqaservices.com

The healthfinder® Web site, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, offers links to hundreds of sites on the Internet that contain reliable healthcare information.
Go to: www.healthfinder.gov and click on "Choosing Quality Care" for more information about specific dis­eases and illnesses.

The National Guideline ClearinghouseTM is an online resource for hundreds of clinical practice guidelines on common medical conditions and treatments. This site is sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, American Medical Association and American Association of Health Plans Foundation.
Go to: www.guideline.gov

The National Institutes of Health offers online access to several databases of public and privately sponsored clinical trials going on in the United States. This is the place to start if you are looking for opportunities to participate in clinical trials.
Go to: www.nih.gov/health/trials/index.htm

Virtual "Treatments" Can Be Real-World Deceptions, from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), offers a list of words and key phrases to be on the lookout for. These words and phrases could indicate phony, exaggerated, or unproven claims on Internet health sites.
Go to: www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/alerts/mrclalrt.htm