Health services research

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Please improve this article if you can. (May 2007)

Health services research is the multidisciplinary field of scientific investigation that studies how social factors, financing systems, organizational structures and processes, health technologies, and personal behaviors affect access to health care, the quality and cost of health care, and quantity and quality of life. Studies in health services research examine outcomes at the individual, family, organizational, institutional, community, and population level. HSR studies examine how people get access to health care, how much care costs, and what happens to patients as a result of this care. ^[1]

The primary goals of health services research are to identify the most effective ways to organize, manage, finance, and deliver high quality care; reduce medical errors; and improve patient safety.^[2]

While health services research is grounded in theory, the discipline exists to perform research that can be applied by physicians, nurses, health managers and administrators, and other people who make decisions or deliver care in the health care system.

Health services researchers come from a variety of specializations, including economics, political science, epidemiology, public health, medicine, biostatistics, operations, management, and psychology.