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Health and BioPharmaceutical Economics

This guide provides resources for the study of the health/biopharmeutical economics. It is a starting point for research on the projects and papers related to this area. Typical project examples may include marketing studies, retirement home economics, and clinical trial economics. As your project research continues using these resources, you may find more resources to assist with the project's completion.

• Books
• Industry and Company Information
• Statistics
• Journal Indexes and Other Resources
• World Wide Web
• Government Resources
• Science Reference Shelf
• Science, Medical and Technology Resources with Business Coverage
• SFX
• MyLibrary

1. ASA, The Library's Online Catalog. This lists all the items in the library and their location. This resource is available via the Network Server and the Web.
2. WorldCat. This is a catalog that lists over 51 million items including books, journals, audio-visual, CD-ROMs and software. These resources may be obtained via Lehigh's Interlibrary Loan.

Use ASA to locate the books on your topic. Remember: Journal articles are NOT indexed in ASA. These subject headings will provide a starting point for the research using books.

1. Associations Unlimited. This is also available in print and its title is Encyclopedia of Associations. Its call number is 061.3/G152e/FM-1-R-REF.
2. Company Web pages. Excellent sources of information on the companies. REMEMBER-the companies control the content on their web pages. Some companies will have more than one web page. An example is Nike has a "retail page" and a company page with the financial information.
3. Factiva. This has financial information on public companies. This includes the balance sheet, income statement and cash flow.
4. Investext. Has information on companies and industries from over 500 Wall Street and international stock brokerage firms.
5. Journal indexes list articles on industries. See the Journal Index section for a listing of indexes
6. Morningstar.Com Library Edition. This resource quantitative and qualitative information on stocks and mutual funds.
7. North American industry classification system, United States. 317.3/U588sa/ FM-1-R-Ref. This is available in print or on the WWW. Its URLs are http://www.census.gov/epcd/www/naicstab.htm or http://www.census.gov/epcd/www/naics.html.
8. Standard Industrial Classification Manual. 317.3/U5852/1987/Ref. This resource is available in print and on the WWW. The URL's for the manual is http://www.osha.gov/oshstats/sicser.html.
9. Standard and Poor's Industry Surveys. 338/S781I/FM-1-Ref (On Reserve). Analyzes specific industries on quarterly basis. Trends, financial information, and industry data are available. Earlier volumes are available in the stacks back to 1976.
10. Standard and Poor's Market Insight. This contains a wealth of company and industry information. It includes the S&P Industry Surveys.

1. Current Index to Statistics. “The Current Index to Statistics is a bibliographic index to publications in statistics and related fields. References are drawn from 111 core journals that are fully indexed, non-core journals from which articles are selected that have statistical content, proceedings and edited books, and other sources." (Information at vendor website). Consult this database for articles about statistical methodology pertinent to pharmacoeconomics, plus articles containing statistical data.
2. Lexis Nexis Statistical. This is an index of statistics that were previously published in the print indexes that are listed above. Also this is compilation of statistics from a variety of sources some of which are available in print and/or on the fiche at Fairchild Library. NOTE: Web version does not have all of the statistics that are available in print.
3. MathSciNet. The MathSciNet database is Mathematical Reviews on the web. "The reviews are the namesake of Mathematical Reviews." The "MR Database consists of far more than reviews, but these are the heart of the mission of MR. The reviews are written by mathematicians around the world, each with expertise in the area of the item under review." Consult this database for articles about mathematical or statistical methodology pertinent to pharmacoeconomics, plus articles containing statistical data.
4. Statistiscal Abstract of the United States. . Latest paper edition is in Ready Reference at this call numuber, 317.2/U58s/FM-1-RRef with earlier editions in the stacks at this call number, 317.2/U58s/.
5. Stat USA. This is a compendium of government statistical information on the Web. It gives information on general economic conditions in the United States, i.e., Consumer Price Index and Leading Economic Indicators. This compendium contains on the National Trade Data Bank. This gives information on foreign trade statistics of the U.S., trade opportunities and information on a foreign country's rules and regulations.
6. Vital Statistics of the United States. This cover provisional birth, death, marriage, and divorce statistics of the U.S.A.
7. World Almanac. Includes the text of Funk & Wagnall's New Encyclopedia, the World Almanac and Book of Facts, the World Almanac of the U.S.A., the World Almanac of U.S. Politics and the World Almanac for Kids.

1. ABI-Inform Dateline. Indexes resources with local and regional business news coverage of companies, business. and the economy.
2. ABI-Inform Global. Indexes over 1400 journals in management and business. Coverage is from 1987 for most journals. About 45% of the articles are available in full text.
3. ABI-Inform Trade & Industry. Indexes resources with a trade or industry focus.
4. Academic Index (Infotrac). Covers over 1400 journal going back to 1980. Some articles are available in full text.
5. Accounting and Tax Index. Available only in print and is shelved in Index Section, Reference, Fairchild Library. Formerly called the Accountant's Index, Supplement.
6. America: History and Life. This covers articles related to America since 1964. This is available in print and on the Web since 1964.
7. Business Periodical Index. This index is available in print from 1958 to 1994.
8. CQ Researcher. Your complete source on the most current and controversial issues of the day with complete summaries, all the pros and cons, bibliographies and more.
9. CQ Weekly Report. This is your weekly source covering Capitol Hill with legislative news and analysis of issues.
10. Econlit. A good index for the research journals that cover company and industry information from a business and economic perspective.
11. Factiva. It has over 8000 publications with some back to the early 1980's.
12. Faulkner Advisory for IT Studies. Covers the information technology area with reports, evaluations and general information.
13. GPO Monthly Catalog (U.S. government publications)
14. Historical Abstracts. This is an excellent source for European topics. It is a twin to America: History and Life. Coverage goes back to 1955 in print at Linderman Library and on the We b.
15. Lexis Nexis Academic. Provides full text of journals, newspapers, and wire services relating to business information. It also has full text legal materials such court decisions, legislation and regulations.
16. Lexis Nexis Congressional. This has indexing, searching capabilities and the full text delivery of a wide variety of information produced by and about the Congress.
17. PAIS International. Indexes articles and books on public affairs. Covers materials for the last 10 years. Also available in print from 1967.
18. Psycinfo. Covers topics in psychology such as pharmaceutical "direct to consumer" marketing and psychoactive drugs. Available in print from 1927 and on the Web from 1967.
19. Research Library. Covers the popular journal literature with some articles available in full text.
20. Sociological Abstracts. Covers topics in sociology and related topics back to 1963 both in print and on the Web. Covers the psychology and related areas. Available in print from 1927 and on the Web from 1967
21. Web of Science and Knowledge. This resource indexes over 8500 research journals covering sciences, engineering, business, social sciences and arts and humanities.
22. WestLaw Campus. This resource provides search and retrieval online of Federal cases, State court cases, and Federal and State regulations

These sites have reports, studies and information on health, medicine and related issues. Some reports may have costs involved. They are:

1. American Medical Association. Its URL is http://www.ama-assn.org/.
2. Canadian Medical Association. Its URL is http://www.cma.ca/index.cfm/ci_id/121/la_id/1.htm.
3. Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care. This project brings together researchers in diverse disciplines - including epidemiology, economics, and statistics to exam how medical resources are distributed and used in the United States.
4. Economics Departments, Institutes and Research Centers in the World http://edirc.repec.org/healthecon.html
5. General Health Economics Discussion List (healthecon-discuss). The purpose of healthecon-discuss is to give a (previously unavailable) forum for general discussion on health economics matters. Further information may be found at this URL http://rfe.wustl.edu/MailUsenet/MailLists/I/healthecondiscuss.html.
6. Google directory of sites related to Biotechnology and Pharmaceuticals. Its URL is http://directory.google.com/Top/Business/Biotechnology_and_Pharmaceuticals/Pharmaceuticals/Directories/
7. Robert Johnson Foundations, based in Princeton, N. J. is the largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to health and health care in the United States. Its URL is http://www.rwjf.org/index.jsp.
8. Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation main web site. Its URL is http://www.kff.org/ .
9. Kaiser Foundation site for State Health Facts Online. Its URL is http://www.statehealthfacts.org/.
10. Kaiser Foundation site for Health Insurance and Cost. The URL is http://www.kff.org/insurance/index.cfm.
11. Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Its URL is http://www.kaisernetwork.org/ .
12. Kaiser Foundation site for prescription drugs URL is http://www.kff.org/rxdrugs/index.cfm.
13. List serves,e.g., the Pharma Marketing Network provide excellent opportunities to expand one's knowledge. One way is to place questions on the service. Hopefully, the answers will assist with resolving the question.
14. MedBio World. This part of the web site lists medical associations. It URL is http://www.sciencekomm.at/home/lists/med-assoc.html .
15. Medical Associations Guide page. It lists a variety of medical associations. Its URL is http://www.pslgroup.com/dg/medassoc.htm.
16. WebMD. Its URL is http://www.webmd.com/.
17. A site with additional resources is the WEBEC (World Wide Web Resources in Economics). The URL for the WEBEC is http://www.hkkk.fi/EconVLib.html (and the U.S. site is http://rfe.wustl.edu/EconFAQ.html.)

1. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Its URL is http://www.ahcpr.gov/.
2. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) (Formerly Health Care Finance Agency) Its URL is http://cms.hhs.gov/.
3. Department of Health and Human Services. Its URL is http://hhs.gov/ .
4. Food and Drug Administration (a.k.a. FDA). The URL is http://www.fda.gov/default.htm.
5. Medicare: Official U.S. Government Site for People with Medicare. Its URL is http://www.medicare.gov/.
6. National Institutes of Health. Its URL is http://www.nih.gov/.
7. Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council (PHC4) is an independent state agency responsible for addressing the problem of escalating health costs, ensuring the quality of health care, and increasing access for all citizens regardless of ability to pay.

These are additional sites for statistics on economics, medicine and related topics. They are:

1. Bureau of Economic Analysis. Its URL is http://www.bea.doc.gov/.
2. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Its URL is http://www.bls.gov/.
3. Federal Statistics site. Its URL is http://www.fedstats.gov/.
4. Securities and Exchange Commission. Its URL is http://www.sec.gov/.
5. U.S. Census Bureau. Its URL is http://www.census.gov/.

Government health statistics and other information are available at these sites. They are:

1. AIDSinfo [electronic resource] / a service of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Its URL is http://aidsinfo.nih.gov.
2. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [electronic resource]: data and statistics. Its URL is http://www.cdc.gov/scientific.htm.
3. National Center for Health Statistics [computer file] --monitoring the nation's health. Its URL is http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/default.htm.
4. Science.gov This site has information on health and medicine.
5. National Center for Health Statistics. Ambulatory Health Care Data. There are drug statistics at this site

1. MedLine Plus. Popular site for medical information that is useful for your projects.  It is great for backgound information.
2. Access Science (a.k.a. McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology). Full-text encyclopedia and dictionary for science and engineering.
3. Oxford Reference Online. A multi-part database of the online versions of Oxford University Press texts. Each topical division contains the searchable version of the latest edition of published dictionaries and encyclopedias.
4. xReferPlus. This is a collection of reference books that cover various ubject areas including a broad coverage of science, social sciences, humanities and technology.

Science, Medical and Technology Resources with Business and Economics Coverage
While these resources are focused on science (and one on psychology), they may also contain business or economics related information that you will find useful. . **Consider the full range of these databases when you do your projects.**

They are:  

1. PubMed.Gives access to Medline, a core resource for medical/biomedical topics, and one that is publicly available over the web.  Click here for a brief guide to using PubMed.  See these tutorials about searching PubMed. Make sure you use Lehigh's link for this (click on "PubMed" link above) so that you can use the SFX-enabled version. It's worth spending the time to learn how to use the "controlled vocabulary" available on PubMed. These are called MeSH headers. You can search them by going to the "MeSH Database" link off the PubMed home screen. (It appears under "PubMED Services" about midway down on the left.) To learn how to use these, see the tutorials about PubMed's MeSH Database available at the link just indicated or available off the MeSH header search area. For coverage, see here. For PubMed coverage, see here.
2. Medline (First Search) This is another flavor of Medline.
3. Web of Science and Knowledge. This resource indexes over 8500 research journals covering sciences, engineering, business, social sciences and arts and humanities. Enables you to do interdisciplinary topic searching and also citation searching. In the latter, you locate papers that cite a paper of interest. For details, see the section about Web of Science here.
4. Applied Science and Technology Abstracts. Covers articles in the engineering, technology and business fields. Useful for practical applications and procedures.
5. Basic BIOSIS (life sciences). "Covers the basic core of life science journals found in college and university libraries and written for undergraduate non-biology majors.  Includes popular and scholarly science journals." Includes coverage of medicine. See here for coverage information.
6. Current Index to Statistics. “The Current Index to Statistics is a bibliographic index to publications in statistics and related fields. References are drawn from 111 core journals that are fully indexed, non-core journals from which articles are selected that have statistical content, proceedings and edited books, and other sources." (Information at vendor website). Consult this database for articles about statistical methodology pertinent to pharmacoeconomics, plus articles containing statistical data. Current Index to Statistics Use if you are looking at statistical/mathematical treatments of your topic. Example of use : a title/keyword(s) search on diabetes brings up this record: Blough, David K. , and Ramsey, Scott D.  (2000), ``Using generalized linear models to assess medical care costs'', Health Services and Outcomes Research Methodology , 1 (2) , 185-202
7. MathSciNet.The MathSciNet database is Mathematical Reviews on the web. "The reviews are the namesake of Mathematical Reviews." The "MR Database consists of far more than reviews, but these are the heart of the mission of MR. The reviews are written by mathematicians around the world, each with expertise in the area of the item under review." Consult this database for articles about mathematical or statistical methodology pertinent to pharmacoeconomics, plus articles containing statistical data.
8. PsycInfo Available in print from 1927 and on the web (link to immediately above) from 1967. Covers psychology and related areas. An area for which this might be useful is marketing psychology. Also, note that a keyword search on pharmaceutical* (* is a truncator) brings up over 1200 results. Here is a guide that was created for another course and that may be of use to you. Use the indexing. This guide may be of use to you.
9. Science.gov. Science.gov is a gateway to reliable information about science and technology from ten major science agencies in the Federal government including the EPA, the National Science Foundation, NASA, and the departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services and Interior. (One category to check is "Health & Medicine".)
10. SciFinder Scholar This requires loading client software to your hard drive. . SciFinder Scholar includes a number of databases wrapped into one, including Chemical Abstracts, MedLine (therefore overlapping with PubMed), substance information, and regulatory information. For details, see the section about SciFinder Scholar 2004 here .  For details, see the section about SciFinder Scholar here.  Sample search:  research topic search on pharmacoeconomics brings up lots of results, including ones specific to the Chemical Abstracts component of SciFinder Scholar. Notes: See here for "Explore Information in the Medical Sciences with SciFinder Scholar".  Also, check out the citing/cited search capabilities on SciFinder Scholar, by comparison with Web of Science below. (See help documentation for details about how to use.) Sample search: a research topic search on pharmacoeconomics brings up lots of results, including ones specific to the Chemical Abstracts component of SciFinder Scholar.

Other sciences databases of possible relevance can be seen by going to the database list and, in the upper left, dragging down the "List by Topic" menu and selecting "Life and Physical Sciences".

Created on 9/1/05 by W. Fincke, Business Librarian
Office : Rm. 343, Rauch Business Center.
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