HEALTH ECONOMICS, VOL.
6: 95–97 (1997)
NOTE
HEALTH ECONOMICS E-MAIL DISCUSSION
LISTS
BRUCE HOLLINGSWORTH*
Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE2 4HH, UK
Recently there has been a spate of new health
economics related electronic mailing (e-mail) lists.
The setting up of these lists has been a response to
the increased awareness of the usefulness of
e-mail as a forum for discussion and information
exchange. As such, it would seem timely to step
back and review the functions of these lists and
how they fit together.
E-mail discussion lists are an electronic forum
for information exchange that make use of the
Internet. They are increasingly used by academics
and non-academics alike, and are also used for
announcements of, for example, conferences and
new books, as well as more recently for the
distribution of organizations’ newsletters and
‘electronic’ journals. The lists can also be used to
store documents of interest which list members
can retrieve. The main health economics lists are
managed using the Mailbase system. This is a
service which allows groups to manage their own
lists and files. More information on e-mail lists can
be obtained from Mailbase, for those with access
to the World Wide Web (WWW) (http:/
/www.mailbase.ac.uk) or via e-mail (send the
message: send mailbase user-guide to:
mailbase@mailbase.ac.uk).
Figure 1 illustrates the main health economics
lists and how they relate to each other. Health-
econ-all is a ‘superlist’. A message sent here is
distributed to all members of the four health
economics lists — healthecon-discuss, HESG,
health-econeval and health-econometrics (the
‘sub-lists’); each sub-list member receives only
one copy of the message, no matter how many of
the sub-lists they are members of. This is intended
*Correspondence to: Bruce Hollingsworth, Health Economics Group, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, School
of Health Sciences, The Medical School, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle upon Tyne NE2 4HH, UK.
CCC 1057–9230/97/010095–03$17.50
© 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
to cut down on cross-postings, etc. The superlist is
intended to be used infrequently for announce-
ments about conferences, meetings, new files or a
new list. The superlist is a closed list which means
that only members of the sub-lists can post
messages. This should help prevent junk
mailings.
Healthecon-discuss is the general health eco-
nomics discussion list. Membership is open to all
health economists (and all those interested in
health economics) worldwide. The purpose of
healthecon-discuss is to give a (previously una-
vailable) forum for general discussion on health
economics matters. The list is international in
membership and discussion reflects this.
HESG is a mailbase list set up to provide an
electronic discussion forum and information
resource for members of the UK Health Econo-
mists’ Study Group (HESG). It is a closed list for
information sharing between members and
administrative mailings from the organizer.
Health-econeval is intended to facilitate eco-
nomic evaluation of health services and health
care interventions, also supporting the Cochrane
Collaboration in using economic information in
systematic reviews. It is used to share experience
and information on cost-effectiveness and pro-
duces a regular newsletter.
Health econometrics is aimed at researchers
who apply econometrics and other quantitative
techniques in health economics. It is used to
exchange details of meetings, papers, software
and data. The list also allows users to share advice
on technical problems.
There are also two other lists associated with
Health Econ. 6: 95–97 (1997)

96
Table 1. Details of health economics e-mail lists

List name Brief description Membership How to join List owner

Healthecon-all The superlist—one message
posted here is distributed
once only to each member of
the four sub-lists
Healthecon-discuss The general, international
health economics discussion
list
HESG The administration list for
All members Members of the four sub-lists Bruce Hollingsworth
of the are automatically members (bruce.hollingsworth@newcastle.ac.uk)
following
four sub-lists
385 Send the message: Bruce Hollingsworth
Join healthecon-discuss (bruce.hollingsworth@newcastle.ac.uk)
to:
mailbase@mailbase.ac.uk
150 By contacting the owner (and David Parkin

B. HOLLINGSWORTH
members of HESG only being a member of HESG) (david.parkin@newcastle.ac.uk)
Health-econeval The list for those interested 365 Send the message: Andrew Booth
in economic evaluation Join health-econeval (A.Booth@Sheffield.ac.uk)
to:
mailbase@mailbase.ac.uk
Health-econometrics The list for those interested 285 Send the message: Andrew Jones
in econometrics in health Join health-econometrics (amj1@mailer.york.ac.uk)
economics to:
mailbase@mailbase.ac.uk
Finan-HC Focuses on information 155 By contacting the owner Robert Woodward
exchange on health care (rsw@wubios.wustl.edu)
finance, mainly USA
© 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

DEA-health The list for those interested 145 Send the message: Bruce Hollingsworth
in the application of DEA to Join Dea-health (bruce.hollingsworth@newcastle.ac.uk)
health care to:
mailbase@mailbase.ac.uk

H = High M = medium and L = low priority; [ ] means in some states plans

 HEALTH ECONOMICS E-MAIL DISCUSSION LISTS
Fig. 1. The health economics e-mail lists.
health economics, but which are not part of the
superlist/sub-list structure. Finan-HC (which is
not a Mailbase list, but uses Listserv software) is
designed to enhance the exchange of information
and ideas among members interested in teaching
and research in health care finance. Finance is
broadly interpreted to include accounting, eco-
nomics and insurance. While most discussions
focus on United States issues, international con-
cerns are encouraged, and iHEA members, as
well as others interested in these areas, are
welcome to join this list. DEA-health is a discus-
sion forum for those with an interest in the
application of data envelopment analysis (DEA)
in the area of health care. The list is open to
anyone who has an interest in DEA/non-para-
metric analysis in general and particularly those
with an interest in health care. The list is used to
© 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
97
announce conferences or workshops, ask ques-
tions, share methods, discuss research findings or
any other topics of common interest to the list.
Table 1 gives details about the lists and how to
go about joining them.
The purpose of this short article is to explain
the purpose of the different e-mail lists available
to health economists and to bring together all the
important information of potential interest to list
members and non-list members alike. These lists
are becoming an important resource to their
members and like any resource should be valued
and used appropriately.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:
I am grateful to David Parkin for helpful comments.
Health Econ. 6: 95–97 (1997)