Subject Specialist:
Law, Political Science, International Affairs
814-863-1347
e-mail: hms2@psu.edu
Helen Sheehy
Title: Head Social Sciences Library
Subject Specialist:
Law, Political Science, International Affairs
814-863-1347
e-mail: hms2@psu.edu
Begin by gathering background information from a wide variety of books and encyclopedias. This allows you to paint the issues in broad strokes and to outline the areas you will want to explore in further depth through journal articles, primary resources (such as government documents), and policy papers.
LionSearch
Think of this as Google for the Penn State Libraries' resources. Use keywords to cross-search a wide selection of library databases and the Penn State Libraries' online catalog [The CAT] in one search. While LionSearch DOES NOT cross-search all Libraries' databases, it is a great place to start and you will find some good scholarly resources.
The CAT [Penn State Libraries' online catalog]
Use keywords, subject headings, authors, organization names, and personal names to identify books, government documents, and other sources related to your topic.
The following databases are available to researchers with a Penn State Access Account:
Encyclopedia of Health Services Research
A great place to get an overview of your topic. Be sure to look at the material cited by the articles and follow up on these resources. Click on the online content link in The CAT to access this encyclopedia
Gale Virtual Reference Library
Includes the Encyclopedia of Public Health
CQ Electronic Library
Includes several different databases that are helpful. Each can be searched separately using the links below:
CQ Researcher
Weekly magazine that explores in-depth a single "hot issue" currently being discussed in the news. Topics include social issues, politics, economics, the environment, education, science, and more. Each issue includes an essay outlining the issue, a pro-con feature, a chronology, and a bibliography. 1923 to the present.
CQ Weekly
A weekly news magazine reporting on the activities in the U.S. Congress including the status of bills, committee and floor activity, debates, roll-call votes, and congressional-executive branch relations.
CQ Almanac
An excellent database to begin tracking legislation as well as getting a broad overview of government actions on a topic.
National Journal
Full text of key magazines, newsletters, books, and directories from the National Journal Group. Focused on government, politics, and public policy.
The easiest way to find the full text of a journal online is to use the E-Journals link from the Libraries' home page
In this case I would suggest HighwirePress since it has the most current issues and an easy search mechanism.
The most effective way to search for newspaper articles is to search them separately from journal articles. Even though you can technically search them in LionSearch, linking is still problematic.
Access World News — a broad-based newspaper database with an easy-to-use interface. Has a great selection of Pennsylvania newspapers that can be easily searched separately.
LexisNexis Academic — the most commonly-used newspaper database with a wide range of national and international newspapers. It is not picked up in LionSearch
Many policy papers have been written on your topics by government agencies and interest groups. These reports can help you identify the major issues and players engaged in discussing your topic.
Note: [Penn State Libraries] indicates a resource available to researchers with a Penn State Access Account.
CRS (Contressional Research Service) Reports [Penn State Libraries]
The Congressional Research Service (CRS), a branch of the Library of Congress, produces excellent reports on a wide of topics including health care policy. The reports are designed for policymakers who are working on legislation or study public policy issues.
GAO (Government Accountability Office) Reports
The audit arm of Congress, the Government Accountability Office researches the effectiveness of government programs and government spending. Excellent for understanding the effectiveness/outcomes of government programs.
PolicyFile [Penn State Libraries]
Reports from public policy think tanks, university research programs, research organizations, and publishers. Many of these organizations are the major "players" in health policy debates.
CQ (Congressional Quarterly) Electronic Library — A suite of databases that help you identify and understand legislation and voting patterns surrounding it's passage. A great place to begin your research. CQ is widely recognized as an unbiased source of information on government and legislative activities.
CQ Weekly — weekly magazine focusing on affairs of Congress
CQ Almanac — one of the pieces in the Library. Great historical record of legislation. Good summaries of major legislation, with outlines of major provisions in easy-to-understand terms.
CQ Congress Collection — more in-depth information, including the ability to analyze voting patterns on particular pieces of legislation, how particular legislators vote in comparison to other members of the party, their delegation, etc.
Congressional [Proquest] — a "full service" federal bill tracking service that links to the full text of the bill, final law, hearings, and reports that come out of the legislative process. The best place to pull it all together
CQ.com — another federal bill and budget tracking service. There are some unique features to the bill tracking in this service but there are not the links to full text that are available in Congressional. Its real strength is the budget tracking. If you are looking at current discussion of the budget and health care issues ... this is the place to go.
Congressional Budget Office (CBO) — Health Care — The CBO does analysis of the budgetary impact of legislation including the impact of health care reform legislation. Some recent reports they have issued related to the ACA (Affordable Care Act) and more recent proposals.
White House
Health Reform in Action — the White House website promoting the ACA
Council of Economic Advisors Report — on health care reform analyzes the impact of reform over time on incomes.
U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Health Services Research and Public Health Information Programs
Data sources related to access, quality, and cost provided by the Health Services Research Division of the National Library of Medicine.
Data Tools
Interactive tools such as: American Factfinder, CenStats, online mapping tools, research programs from the Center for Economic Studies, etc.. Also provides software to download [e.g., CS Pro, and IMPS software].
Health Insurance
Data collected by the U.S. census related to health insurance and health access. Also produces valuable data related to the population of an area, including demographic and economic statistics that are valuable to health care administrators.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Health Resources and Services Administration [HRSA], Data and Statistics
HRSA provides data and statistics focused on the uninsured, underserved, and special needs populations and on HRSA programs, including primary care shortage areas, community health centers, and the National Health Service Corps.
Health Resources and Services Administration, Health Professions
HRSA Health Professions includes data related to grants and cooperative agreements related to improving the health workforce; current research, tracking tools, and trend analysis of the state of the current health workforce; and health professional shortage area data.
U.S. Department of Labor
Contains information on unemployment rates, occupation wages, and various labor regulations.
U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Health Services Research and Public Health Information Programs
Data sources related to access, quality, and cost provided by the Health Services Research Division of the National Library of Medicine.
Pennsylvania General Assembly
Much less is published from the state. Only in 2009 were the rules changed to require that committee meetings and votes of committees be made routinely available to the public. Votes are now published on the General Assembly website. Transcripts of hearings are still not yet widely available
Find out more about the "players"
DIRLINE
directory of organizations interested in health care issues — with links to their web sites.
Associations Unlimited [Penn State Libraries]
basic information about a wide range of organizations.
Yearbook of International Organizations [Penn State Libraries]
Open Secrets — track money from interest groups in the political process.
Scholarly journal and newspaper articles can give you a more in-depth view of your issue.
LionSearch
Think of this as Google for the Penn State Libraries' resources. Use keywords to cross-search a wide selection of library databases and the Penn State Libraries' online catalog in one search. While LionSearch DOES NOT cross-search all Libraries' databases and leaves out some crucial subject databases, it is a good place to start and find some good scholarly resources.
PubMed [Penn State Libraries]
The National Library of Medicine's premier bibliographic database. It includes the fields of medicine, nursing, dentistry, veterinary medicine, the health care system, and the pre-clinical sciences.
Health Services Research (HSR) Queries
A subset of PubMed, this database focuses specifically on health care quality and costs.
CINAHL [Penn State Libraries]
Index to nursing literature
Sociological Abstracts [Penn State Libraries]
Search broad social problems including lack of access to health care and the underlying causes.
Social Services Abstracts [Penn State Libraries]
Includes articles related to the health services.
Worldwide Political Science Abstracts [Penn State Libraries]
Use to find articles on the politics of health policy.
Annual Reviews [Penn State Libraries]
Includes the Annual Review of Public Health
ABI/Inform [Penn State Libraries]
A subset of ProQuest, this database focuses on business journals and newspapers, including the business of health care.
Modern Healthcare
Modern Healthcare is the industry's leading source of healthcare business news. The online edition requires free registration to access the articles.
American Factfinder
Census Department resource for population, housing, economic and geographic data.
U. S. Bureau of the Census
More general demographics from the census bureau
Health Insurance
Data collected by the U.S. census related to health insurance and health access. The Census Bureau also produces valuable data related to the population of an area, including demographic and economic statistics that are valuable to health care administrators.
National Center for Health Statistics
The nation's principal health statistics agency, it compiles statistical information to improve health and guide actions and policies.
Data Sources available from AHRQ [Agency for Healthcare Research Quality]
Links to various data sources provided by the Agency for Healthcare Research Quality, including accessibility of care, healthcare disparities, healthcare quality, healthcare spending, healthcare use, hospitalizations, and data by state and payer type.
Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (MEDICARE/MEDICAID)
Data available regarding all issues related to Medicare/Medicaid, including data by provider type, for special interest populations, and trend reports.
AHA Data [American Hospital Association]
Data, statistics, trend reports, and projections available from the American Hospital Association (AHA) on all issues related to hospitals.
Health Information Research and Public Health Information Programs [U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health]
Data sources related to access, quality, and cost provided by the Health Services Research Division of the National Library of Medicine.
The Commonwealth Fund
"A Private Foundation Working Toward a High Performance Health System." The foundation maintains an interactive United States map allows comparison of state-specific rankings and benchmark data between states on a range of issues, including performance indicators and financial sustainability. Performance Snapshots offers a compendium of charts and narratives that plot the progress of the United States healthcare system towards high efficiency and performance. The Child Health System Performance offers state specific details on a range of children’s health indicators and allows for regional comparison and analysis.
Kaiser Family Foundation
The Kaiser Family Foundation provides data related to healthcare reform, minority health and health disparities, Medicaid/CHIP/Medicare, Costs and Insurance, and the Uninsured. The Kaiser Foundation includes brief fact sheets related to specific issues and larger data sets including charts and narratives with the most recent data.
County Health Rankings
County Health Rankings allows comparison of health outcome and health factor rankings by county and state for all counties in the United States.
Medical Group Management Association [MGMA]
The results of MGMA surveys have been the industry standard in benchmarking and organization assessment tools for over 50 years. MGMA allows the search of all surveys and summaries for relevant data and benchmarking figures related to management of healthcare organizations.
National Quality Forum (NQF)
The National Quality Forum produces a set of endorsed performance measures that are used to measure and quantify healthcare processes, outcomes, patient perceptions, and organizational structures/systems associated with the provision of high quality healthcare. Performance measures endorsed by the NQF are used by hospitals, healthcare systems, and government agencies (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid) for public reporting of performance and quality improvement research. The NQF provides the surveys used by organizations as benchmarking and assessment tools.
National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA)
The NCQA research department is responsible for expanding and enhancing the use of health plan-quality data. The Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS) produced by the National Committee for Quality Assurance is a tool used by more than 90% of America's health plans to measure performance on dimensions of care and service. HEDIS consists of 71 measures across 8 domains of care. Because so many plans collect HEDIS data, and because the measures are so specifically defined, HEDIS makes it possible to compare the performance of health plans on an "apples-to-apples" basis. Health plans also use HEDIS results themselves to see where they need to focus their improvement efforts.
The Joint Commission
The Joint Commission’s annual report on improving quality and safety among accredited hospitals includes data on a variety of measures from over 3,000 Joint Commission accredited hospitals.
Pennsylvania Department of Health, Health Statistics and Research
Data from the PA Department of Health including health statistics for Pennsylvania residents (vital statistics, chronic disease, behavioral risk, communicable disease, health facilities, and minority health) community health assessment data, and links to other state and federal agencies reporting similar data.
The Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council
The Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council 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. The Hospital Performance Report 2008 is available, including data related to 49 treatments and surgical procedures provided by Pennsylvania's general acute care hospitals, patient outcome results (including length of stay and readmission), and hospital charges. Other data sources available include: Hospital Financial Analysis and Measuring the Quality of Commercial HMOs.
UNData [United Nations] — on of the best starting places for a wide range of social and economic data this site pulls data from the whole range of agencies in the United Nations family and beyond.
WHO (World Health Organization) data and statistics — the World Health Organization is the primary authority within the UN for directing global health initiatives. For more in-depth country information look at the Regional Office information (listed at the bottom of the page).
OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development)
Statistics from A to Z — download Excel tables; some real-time datasets
OECD Library — a subscription service available to researchers with a Penn State Access Account that has a robust statistical component (with data not available on the free site) as well as in-depth policy studies.
Statistical Insight [ProQuest] [Penn State Libraries]
Index to statistics and data contained in federal agency, state government, and private organization publications.
Statistical Datasets [ProQuest] [Penn State Libraries]
A companion database to Statistical Insight, Datasets allows you to construct your own data comparisons, create charts and graphs, export data, and more. Contains a wealth of data on health indicators.
Vital Statistics on American Politics [Penn State Libraries]
More than 200 tables on U.S. elections and political parties, public opinion and voting, the media, the three branches of U.S government, foreign, military, social and economic policy. Contains some time series data. Data can be exported for use in Excel or other statistical software.
