Supporting Your Practice

The VCMA provides the support you need to
maintain a successful practice

Links of Interest

Clinic Resources

Center Watch Service	Listing of clinical trials.
Medscape	Website containing full-text articles, practice guidelines, conference schedules and summaries, patient resources and links.
National Library of Medicine	Online databases including MEDLINE and PubMed
PDR Website	Created by Medical Economics Company, Inc., offering drug information, online journals, CME courses and other information.

Government Regulatory Agencies

Attorney General, California	Consumer inquiries or complaints.
County of Ventura	County Government Offices and Departments
Department of Managed Health Care	HMO Help Center - Complaints against a health maintenance organization, health plan, or IPA.
FDA	Food & Drug Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Medical Board of California	Physician Licensing.
National Practitioner Data Bank	Physician Information
State of California Homepage	Provides links to all state agencies.

Health Plans

Aetna	Insurance company.
Anthem	HMO & PPO Health plans.
Blue Shield	HMO & PPO Health plans.
CIGNA	HMO & PPO Health plans.
Medi-Cal	Contains Medi-Cal's newsletter and other information about the Medi-Cal program.
Medicare	Website for Palmetto, the Medicare fiscal intermediary for California, provides access to Medicare billing guidelines and other policies, back issues of Medicare Bulletins, and contact information for Palmetto.
United Healthcare	Health plans.
Ventura County Health Care Plan	Self-insured program for County of Ventura Employees

Health Policy Resources

Agency for Health Care Policy	Federal agency charged with supporting research to promote quality of care.
CDC	Federal center for disease control.
Kaiser Family Foundation	Reports and summaries of publications on health policy.
National Center for Health Statistics	Government source of reports, statistics, tables and publications
National Institutes of Health	Consensus Development Conference guidelines and consumer health topics.
California Department of Health Care Access and Information	Source of statewide health information and statistics
U.S. Government Printing Offices	GPO: Official reports and publications fo U.S. Federal Government.

Legislative

California Code of Regulations	Access to specific provisions of the California Code of Regulations.
California Legislative Information	Information on pending legislation and current activities in the State Legislature; links to State legislators, California law and legislative publications.
California Legislator Contact Info	Not sure who your local representative is? It's easy to find out by visiting.
Federal Legislative Information	Library of Congress: Information on pending federal legislation, current news on Congressional activities, links to members of Congress and the Executive and Judicial branches of government.

Organized Medicine

AMA	American Medical Association
CMA	California Medical Association

Other Links of Interest

American Board of Medical Specialties	24 approved medical specialty boards in the United States.
Community Services in Ventura County	Miscellaneous services providing information and/or advice about consumer rights, business practices, product safety, fraud and filing complaints, voter information, volunteer opportunities and maintaining a healthy environment.

Public Health

Ventura County Public Health Department	Info on Emergency Medical Services, Ventura County Medical Center, Mental Health, and an array of Community Services.

Worker's Comp Plans

Argonaut Group	Worker's Compensation Programs
California Department of Worker's Compensation	Claims, settlement, benefits and rehabilitation for job-related injuries and illnesses