Health Care

A great starting place for research on the health care industry; this guide points to the best resources available to the HBS community. See also related guides to Biotechnology, Medical Devices and Pharmaceuticals.

General Trends & Analysis

Frost & Sullivan
The HBS subscription includes market and technology reports on the health care sector.

AHA Health and Hospital Trends
The American Hospital Association's Web page dedicated to recents trends in health care and hospitals.

World Health Report
Published annually by the World Health Organization, these reports are international in scope and focus on specific health-related trends and issues. The recent issue focuses on public health security.

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
This foundation focuses its research on several health care issues, including coverage, quality/equality and innovation.

Statistics

World Development Indicators
This database includes international statistics relating to health care and public health.

SourceOECD Health Data
SourceOECD's Health Data provides access to global comparative data about health expenditure and financing, and health care systems.

National Center for Health Statistics
Comprehensive U.S. health statistics.

Roper Center for Public Opinion
Provides data and reports from public opinion surveys. Surveys include questions on how patients view their medical care, their health insurance coverage, and their views on the medical community. Strong U.S. focus, but does include a growing collection of international surveys.

World Health Organization (WHO)
A great starting place for locating data on international health care as well as analysis of global trends and issues.

Finance

Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP)
This database collection measures patient-level health data from local, state, and national data collection organizations (including hospitals, clinics, emergency departments and physician's offices).

In Vivo: The Business & Medicine Report
Check Harvard availability
Covers new companies and deals in biotechnology. The table of contents for the past two months is available at the In Vivo Web site.

Journal of Health Care Finance
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Covers subjects such as the cost of group prenatal care, hospital efficiency and debt, and diversification.

International Journal of Health Care Finance and Economics
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Academic articles on health care finance from an international perspective.

Health Care Payers (Insurance)

Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)
CMS content includes reports, newsletters, data and publications relating to health care coverage in the U.S.

HMO/PPO Directory
Check Harvard availability
Ref RA 413.5 .U5 H586 in the Stamps Reading Room
Profiles of U.S. managed health care organizations arranged by state.

Health Plan: Facts, Trends and Data
Check Harvard availability
Ref RA 413.5 .U5 M358 in the Stamps Reading Room
Includes a directory of plans by state.

Statehealthfacts.org
Published by the Kaiser Family Foundation, this Web site provides state-level health financing, health costs and budgets, and health coverage data.

TheStreet.com Ratings' Guide to Health Insurers
Check Harvard availability
Ref HG 9395 .W45 in the Stamps Reading Room
Provides data on the financial stability of HMOs and health insurers as well as information about consumer complaints.

Health Care Providers

American Hospital Association
Provides extensive information about the industry and issues.

Medical Group Management Association
A medical association Web site that focuses on important topics in private practice management including business operations, quality care, and risk management.

Health Care Analysis: an International Journal of Health Care Philosophy and Policy
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This academic journal publishes articles on health care education, health care professional practice, and all areas of health care systems and provisions.

Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care
Monitors the distribution and use of medical resources throughout the United States.

Practice Management Tools
The American Medical Association (AMA) Web site provides links to several practice management tools for use by physicians and office staff.

Plunkett's Health Care Industry Almanac
Check Harvard availability
Ref RA 410.53.P56 in the Stamps Reading Room
Provides in-depth analysis of the health care sector as well as descriptions of the top 500 companies.

Physician Characteristics and Distribution in the U.S.
Check Harvard availability
Ref RA 410.7 .P48 in the Stamps Reading Room
An extensive collection of data relating to U.S. physician demographics. Some data from 1965-present.

Profiles of U.S. Hospitals
Check Harvard availability
Ref RA 977 .P7 in the Stamps Reading Room
This resource includes demographic, operational, financial, and clinical data relating to U.S. hospitals.

Hospital Statistics
Check Harvard availability
Ref RA 981.A2 A6234 in the Stamps Reading Room
Published by the American Hospital Association (AHA), a good comparative source for US hospital data, including a 5-year trends for most indicators. Also includes historical data (1946-2006) for some indicators.

Ethics

Bioethics Resources on the Web
Published by the National Institutes of Health. Lists of useful links to various resources.

BMC Medical Ethics
An open access, peer-reviewed journal.

Find books and articles.

Policy & Regulation

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)
Formerly known as the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research; this organization provides access to data, for both researchers and consumers, about the U.S. health care system.

Health Hippo
Links to sources of information on health care and insurance regulations

NIH Office of Technology Transfer (OTT)
Find information on licensing policies, process, opportunities, presentations and articles, and more.

OECD Health Policies
Reports, working papers and data on international health policy issues. Use "physician" as a search term for quick access to the relevant publications.

Pan American Health Organization
Analysis of health care system and issues in Central and South American countries.

Careers

Associations

American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE)
An international professional society of more than 30,000 health care executives who lead hospitals, health care systems and other health care organizations.

American Health Insurance Plans (AHIP)
National association representing nearly 1,300 member companies providing health insurance coverage to more than 200 million Americans.

American Hospital Association (AHA)
National organization of 37,000 individual members and approximately 5,000 hospitals, health care systems, networks, and other providers.

See the Fast Answer: Where can I find associations for an industry or profession?

Conferences

Congress on Healthcare Leadership
Annual conference seminars on many health care-related topics. An employment referral service is also available.

See the Fast Answer: How can I find conferences and trade shows for a given industry?

Job Sites, Compensation and Networking

FierceHealthcare
Provides news, events, whitepapers, webinars, and jobs on health care industries.

Still making their ascent
Modern Healthcare 38 (30) (2008): 6-16
The article reports on compensation of senior executives from the U.S. health care industry.

By the Numbers: Largest For-Profit Hospital Chains
Modern Healthcare 38 (9) (2008): 31

See the Fast Answer: What resources can I use for identifying and networking with company employees and other people?

See the Fast Answer: How can I create a list of companies by industry, location, and/or size?

See the Fast Answer: Where can I get lists of fast growing companies?

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Health Care

Associations

Conferences

Job Sites, Compensation and Networking

HBS Resources on Health Care

Health Care Search

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