IMS Health creates HSRN with leading medical researchers

NORWALK, Conn. IMS Health has joined with 10 leading academic researchers in medicine, health economics and public health to establish the Health Services Research Network, which will apply IMS information to address health care issues.

Five HSRN projects, which will use IMS’ information on health care therapies and outcomes, are currently underway, focused on healthcare topics that include pediatric treatment outcomes, benchmarks of hospital drug costs, drug safety in key therapeutic classes, variability in treatment patterns, and how quickly the public accepts new medical technology.

The 10 members of HSRN are:

• G. Caleb Alexander, MD, MS, Department of Medicine, University of Chicago
• Ernst Berndt, PhD, Applied Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Elliott Fisher, MD, MPH, Center for Health Policy Research, Dartmouth Medical School
• James Hoffman, PharmD, MS, Medications Outcomes, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
• Frank Lichtenberg, PhD, Finance & Economics, Columbia Business School
• Matthew Miller, MD, MPH, ScD, Health Policy and Management, Harvard School of Public Health
• Glen Schumock, PharmD, MBA, Center for Pharmacoeconomic Research, University of Illinois - Chicago
• Nilay Shah, PhD, Division of Health Care Policy and Research, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine
• Randall S. Stafford, MD, PhD, Prevention Research Center, Stanford University
• Lee Vermeulen, MS, RPh, Center for Drug Policy, University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics

Robert Hunkler, IMS director of professional relations and HSRN coordinator said, “The U.S. healthcare system is under increasing pressure to develop appropriate and cost-effective treatment options. The need to understand how patients are treated in actual practice, and the outcomes of those treatments, has never been greater. The HSRN consortium will build a base of shared knowledge and evidence-based insights that will help advance healthcare.”