By Mary Gabb ([email protected]) Nowadays, healthcare is hotly debated, and not just for US presidential candidates. Virtually every western country is now grappling with the challenge of how to pay for healthcare for its citizens. The US has garnered much attention in this debate, as it is the only western country that does not have…
Details
By Heather Haley ([email protected]) Ever asked yourself: “Is there a better way to do this?” while sifting through 300 plus potential articles. PubMed offers several features that can dramatically improve your literature search efficiency. Single Citation Matcher Single Citation Matcher is a quick and easy way to find a single article for the next time…
Details
By Ruth Whittington ([email protected]) The World Healthcare Congress, held March 10 – 13 in Berlin, always provides interesting insights on the ways governments, clinicians, and healthcare providers perceive healthcare delivery. In the same congress last year, held in Barcelona, two themes dominated the presentations and networking discussions. The first was the concept of an electronic…
Details
By David Woods ([email protected]) The pharmaceutical industry is too often blamed for the stratospheric costs of healthcare — particularly in the United States. Yet, according to a series of surveys conducted by USA Today, the Kaiser Family Foundation, and the Harvard School of Public Health, pharmaceutical products account for only about 10% of the total…
Details
By Mary Gabb ([email protected]) With all of the recent news about job cuts or outsourcing in the pharmaceutical industry, health economists maybe worried about their own employment, as the downturn in Big Pharma will have ripple effects in many other healthcare-related industries. However, a forced job loss can also be an opportunity to pursue a…
Details
By David Woods ([email protected]) With this the 26th issue of HOC, we are well overdue in featuring our energetic, globetrotting CEO of Rx Communications, Ruth Whittington. I can say this with only a minor fear of being labeled a sycophant or worse, but Ruth is a model boss: knowledgeable, hard-working, and above all nurturing and…
Details
By Julie Stauffer (julie.stauffer.rxcomms.com) Sustaining staff morale is about much more than delivering a wage slip at the end of the month. If the past few years of restructurings, closures, and layoffs in the pharma industry have taken a toll on the office mood, perhaps it’s time for a little shot in the arm. The…
Details
By Mary Gabb ([email protected]) Obnoxious, annoying, Big Pharma strikes again – these are just some of the sentiments heard when encountering a direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertisement, the myriad commercials on radio or television, or adverts in magazines, newspapers, or on the internet, promoting prescription drugs to consumers. The pros and cons of DTC advertising have been…
Details
By David Woods ([email protected]) There has been much written lately about the perceived failings of the FDA. The Wall Street Journal claims that “the place is a mess,” and a physician who served in the FDA from 1979 to 1994 commented in a letter to the New York Times: “the agency’s most significant problems are…
Details
By Mary Gabb ([email protected]) As health economics plays a more prominent role in medical research and public policy, participation in panel discussions – either in front of a live audience or behind closed doors – is becoming part of the job description. Done well, panel discussions can provide important insights into a topic and can…
Details