Health & Welfare

California HealthCare Foundation
The California HealthCare Foundation hosts a site that measures quality of care in hospitals. It rates hospitals based on feedback from patients, patient safety and critical care, comparing each hospital to state average death and complication rates.

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
The federal site also has a hospital rating system. It uses Medicare claims data to determine 30-day readmission and mortality rates for various conditions.

California Department of Public Health
The California Department of Public Health’s Health Facilities Consumer Information System shows the number of complaints, substantiated complaints, survey deficiencies and fines dealt with by state regulators for nursing homes, hospitals and other types of care facilities.

Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care
The Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care provides a wealth of downloadable data on the provision and cost of health care throughout California and the nation. The site allows users to make their own tables and graphs comparing patient experiences, Medicare spending and hospital care intensity.

Food and Drug Administration
The Food and Drug Administration tracks adverse outcomes reported by patients, health officials and doctors that are believed to be linked to medications and medical devices.  The medication information is available for download on the FDA website and is also searchable here.

California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development
The California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development has an interactive map tool that allows users to map data on California’s health care workforce, vital statistics and medically underserved populations.

California HealthCare Foundation
The California HealthCare Foundation has another guide that evaluates nursing homes based on staffing, citations and several other factors.

California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform
The California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform also provides a guide on nursing homes based on staffing, citations and several other factors.

Medicare
One of several guides to evaluating and rating nursing homes is compiled by Medicare.

UC Berkeley Center for Social Services Research
The UC Berkeley Center for Social Services Research and the California Department of Social Services post extensive data on child welfare here, including the number of children from each county who enter foster care, return home and are found to be abused or neglected.

The California Department of Social Services
The California Department of Social Services posts a wealth of data and trend reports that allow users to see how many California residents apply for food stamps over time, the number and types of social services fraud investigations open and closed, and the number of elder abuse cases investigated.