Category Overview
The Data Locator is a collection of "well-worn links" to data that the Consortium has been asked for or that we have used again and again. It is not meant to be an exhaustive collection, but a useful collection of easy-to-find, mostly free or inexpensive resources that will answer specific data, i.e. numerical, questions. Because we understand how difficult it can be to find data on websites, we have tried to link directly to the pages that contain data rather than linking to homepages
For policy and other links, please see our Key Topic Guide Pages.
Costs / Expenditures
Costs relate to the individual level of financial obligation and issues of affordability of health care on this level. There is also section below on costs as experienced by individual practitioners, which is a commonly received question. The "Expenditures" links below lead to aggregate-level data - macroeconomic data - of potential value to policy makers, health reform researchers and others following trends at the "10,000 foot level."
Diseases and Conditions
The Consortium Resource Center receives many requests for information about diseases. The most typical question is for incidence and prevalence information, in large part because incidence and prevalence data drives so many quality, disease management, administrative and cost issues. The following is by no means an exhaustive list, but is derived from 1) specific reference questions and 2) costly or prevalent diseases or conditions.
Drugs
Drugs are a large component of health care costs. Most people, at some point, are also interested in finding information about the indications and side effects of particular drugs. Most of the links below pertain to cost issues, but there are also links to reputable sources for clinical information on drugs.
Facilities
The Resource Center receives many requests for data re: number of hospitals, number of HMOs, number of HMOs by model type, profit vs. not-for-profit status, number of beds per facility and geographic distribution of facilities. Fortunately, there are several lower cost sources for this information on the Internet.
Geographic
Maps convey data in a different and sometimes more effective way. There are a number of links to inexpensive maps that we have discovered that present some type of health care data. There is also a link to a commercial marketing and mapping service that can create customized maps, providing data linked with geographical attributes in a cartographic presentation.
Insurance
Researchers need good information, from as many sources as possible, in order to develop solutions to the problem of access to and affordability of health insurance in the U.S. Medicare and Medicaid cover a sizable portion of the U.S. population, so they are an important source. The Health Insurance Fact Book is an inexpensive source for much data about the commercial market.
Medical Care / Treatments
The following websites supply data on certain attributes of care. The data are organized by type of facility supplying care, but the data pertain to patient level care, i.e. number of admissions, discharges, and length of stay. For information on the institutions as business entities, see under Facilities.
Health Care Workforce
Many researchers are interested in knowing about the physician supply,
geographical distribution, and compensation. Statistics on
registered and licensed nurses can be informative for those grappling
with the problem of shortages.
Research services are available to assist Consortium members with more specific questions - please contact us at via e-mail or (781) 419-7800. We welcome your further questions & look forward to your participation in our work and our events!
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