How does the quality and cost of anesthesia services vary by geographic market, practice model, attributes of the hospital or health system, and characteristics of the patient? What is the demand for and supply of physicians and nurses who provide anesthesia services? What impact will a new regulation have on the cost, quality and accessibility of anesthesia services?
Addressing key questions such as these to help inform policymakers is a primary goal of health policy research (HPR). HPR is a subset of a broader field of study referred to as health services research (HSR). But what is HSR?
HSR has been defined as 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 ultimately our health and well-being.1 That is, HSR examines how people...