Measuring Researching and Monitoring the Quality of Health Care - Professional Societies

There are professional and membership organizations and societies for all health professionals, such as physicians, nurses, psychologists, and hospital administrators, as well as for institutional health care providers, such as hospitals, managed care plans, and medical groups. These professional organizations represent the interests and concerns of their members, advocate on their behalf, and frequently compile data and publish information about working conditions, licensing, accreditation, compensation, and scientific advancements of interest to members.

The American Medical Association

The American Medical Association (AMA) is a powerful voice for U.S. physicians' interests. The AMA concerns itself with a wide range of health-related issues including medical ethics, medical education, physician and patient advocacy, and development of national health policy. The AMA publishes the highly regarded Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) and the AMNews, as well as journals in ten specialty areas called Archives Journals. The organization also maintains a Web site with full-text journal articles for its members.

Founded in 1847, the AMA has worked to upgrade medical education by expanding medical school curricula and establishing standards for licensing and accreditation of practitioners and postgraduate training programs. Recent activities of the AMA are advocating for passage of comprehensive Patients' Bill of Rights legislation, cohosting a world conference on preventing tobacco use, launching a "health literacy" campaign to improve patient-physician relationships, and managing a project aimed at reducing underage drinking.

The American Nurses Association

The American Nurses Association (ANA) is a professional organization that represents more than 2.6 million registered nurses (RNs) and promotes high standards of nursing practice and education as well as the roles and responsibilities of nurses in the workplace and the community. On behalf of its members, the ANA works to protect patients' rights, lobbies to advocate for nurses' interests, champions workplace safety, and provides career and continuing education opportunities. The ANA publishes the American Journal of Nursing and actively seeks to improve the public image of nurses among health professionals and the community at large.

The American Hospital Association

The American Hospital Association (AHA) represents nearly five thousand hospitals, health care systems, networks, and other health care providers as well as thirty-seven thousand individual members. Originally established as a membership organization for hospital superintendents in 1899, the AHA had expanded its mission by 1917 to address all facets of hospital care and quality. In addition to national advocacy activities and participation in the development of health policy, the AHA oversees research and pilot programs to improve health service delivery. It also gathers and disseminates hospital and other related health care data, publishes information of interest to its members, and sponsors educational opportunities for health care managers and administrators.