More than 41,000 active industry- and government-sponsored clinical trials and drug therapies are presently in research. Center Watch is designed to be an open resource for research professionals and patients interested in participating in clinical trials.

Trial studies are listed by medical areas, and viewers can search via keywords or medical conditions. Professionals can research clinical trial databases and explore links to health-related websites.

Patient safety

The Leapfrog Group, composed of more than 150 public and private organizations that provide health care benefits, works with medical experts throughout the United States to identify problems and propose solutions to improve the health care system.

The group has identified three practices that it believes have tremendous potential to save lives by reducing preventable mistakes in hospitals. The first practice is the use of computerized physician order entry. Studies show that computerized prescription systems can reduce serious medication mistakes by up to 86%.

The other identified practices are evidence-based hospital referral and staffing ICUs with physicians who are specially trained in critical care.

Healthy joints

The Arthritis Foundation is a resource for those who suffer from arthritis and the people who care for them. The site has a link to the latest arthritis research webcast, a list of the top 10 research advances in 2003, and a list of questions and answers about arthritis. The “Communities” link connects visitors with personal stories, an expression gallery, personal web pages, and a chat room.

A page on the site is dedicated to arthritis in children, teens, and young adults with a message board so they can talk with others facing the same obstacles.

Straight talk

The Partnership for Clear Health Communication is a coalition of national organizations working to promote awareness and solutions around the issue of low health literacy and how it affects health outcomes. The partnership is working to expand and educate patients, develop practical solutions, and conduct research and advocacy programs.

The site recommends to patients a tool called “Ask Me 3.” The premise is that every time people interact with their doctor, nurse, or pharmacist, they should ask three questions to better understand their health. The questions are: “What is my main problem?” “What do I need to do?” and “Why is it important for me to do this?”

The site provides information for health professionals about how they can encourage their patients to use the Ask Me 3 approach.

The faces of pain

The Pediatric Pain Sourcebook of Protocols, Policies, and Pamphlets offers health care providers easy access to standard pediatric pain information for both clinical use and patient education.

The updated Faces Pain Scale was adopted in October and has new faces with more detail, but no smiles or tears. The pain scales can be downloaded and reproduced from this site.