New funding sources in drug development, social media affects patient choice, and Harvard’s Libraries make waves in this week’s Blog Buzz!

Fiercehealthcare reports that, according to a report by PricewaterhouseCoopers, Patients choose hospitals based on social media.

The Atlantic’s Rebecca Rosen reported big news from Harvard this week—a faculty committee announced that, due to the high price of academic journal bundles, they are encouraging faculty to publish in open access journals and add their work to the institution’s repository. In related news, the library has released nearly all of its bibliographic records under a Creative Commons license and hopes to encourage other institutions to make their metadata available as well.

In a recent issue, The Economist discusses charities (especially patient foundations) collaborating with pharmaceutical companies in drug discovery efforts. The article mentions an April 19 announcement that the Michael J. Fox Foundation will pay the clinical trial costs of a Sanofi drug targeted against Parkinson’s disease.