The National Information Center on Health Services Research and Health Care Technology (NICHSR) at the National Library of Medicine was created to improve the collection, storage, analysis, retrieval, and dissemination of health services research. Designed for health practitioners, health policy makers, payers and information professionals, the NICHSR website (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/nichsr) provides access to a variety of databases and retrieval services including:

Pilot Health Services Research Filters Project

Researchers, clinicians, health policy analysts and planners can use these specialized PubMed Health Services Research (HSR) searches to find information on healthcare quality and costs. Four health care quality categories and two health care cost categories are provided, and the search emphasis can be broad (i.e., mostly relevant articles but probably some less relevant ones too) or narrow (i.e., mostly relevant articles but probably omitting a few). The resulting retrieval can be further refined using PubMed’s Limits (e.g., English language).

HSRProj (Health Services Research Projects in Progress)

Policy makers, managers, clinicians and other decision makers can use the HSRProj database to find information about health services research projects in progress before results are available in published form. Users can retrieve names of performing and sponsoring agencies, names and addresses of the principal investigator, beginning and ending years of the project, information about study design and methodology including demographic characteristics of the study group, number of subjects in the study population, population base of the study sample, and source of the project data. Records are indexed with NLM’s Medical Subject Headings (MeSH®) and, when available, NIH’s CRISP (Computer Retrieval of Information on Scientific Projects) keywords. Also, project descriptions are included whenever possible.

HSTAT (Health Services/Technology Assessment Texts)

Policy makers, researchers and clinicians can use the HSTAT database to find full-text guidelines, technology assessments, and evidence-based medicine reports. The database includes access to a variety of resources including: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) guideline and evidence documents and technology assessments, NIH Consensus Development Conference Statements and Technology Assessment Workshop Reports, and links to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Prevention Guidelines Database.

Health Services/Sciences Research Resources (HSRR)

Health care researchers and health sciences librarians can use the HSRR database to find research datasets, instruments/indices, and software used in health services research, the behavioral and social sciences, and public health. Users may examine and compare characteristics of health-related research tools and link to additional research resources. HSRR includes brief descriptions of research resources, clinical records, discharge summaries, claims records, epidemiological surveys, health/ behavioral/ social surveys, disease registries, birth registries, and data about practitioners, programs, and facilities. It also includes URLs of providers for additional information or access to the resources. When available, relevant published references about resources are accessible through saved searches with one-click links to PubMed, as well as other technical information about the tool.

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