ABSTRACT
Retrospective databases, whether created de novo from pre-existing sources, such as patients’ written charts, or from preexisting electronic datasets, such as medical and pharmacy claims databases, electronic medical records, national insurance administrative data, hospital medical records, disease-specific patient registries, and patients and provider survey data, are a rich source of data for pharmacoeconomic analyses.1-5 A listing of some population-based data sources (Table 5.1) and data sources available commercially or from the U.S. government (Table 5.2) is provided. In addition to health economic analyses, the data collected from these datasets can be used for outcomes research (such as analysis of healthcare practice patterns, epidemiologic analysis of disease progression, prevalence and characteristics of patient populations), evaluation of populations for prediction of future events, for formulary evaluation and to supplement prospective datasets, among other uses. When evidence
5.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................... 59 5.2 Claims and Medication Databases ..................................................................64
