Health services research (HSR) became a burgeoning field in North America in the 1960s, when scientific information and policy deliberation began to coalesce.
[3] 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.
[4] HSR is more concerned with delivery and high quality access to care, in contrast to medical research, which focuses on the development and evaluation of clinical treatments.
Collective leadership is based on the concept that all stakeholders share viewpoints and knowledge in order to keep up with rapid technological changes, patient-centered outcomes, and the increasing need for specialization in healthcare.
[8] Various formats are used including workshops, audits, educational outreach, feedback sessions, lunch-and-learn seminars, and courses.
Performance-based payment is a broad approach that includes the concept of offering financial incentives if specific targets are met.
Others include the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES) for the province of Ontario, and the Canadian Collaborative Study of Hip Fractures.
Many of these are administered by the National Board of Health and Welfare, including comprehensive administrative datasets regarding specialist in-patient and out-patient care, municipal social services, as well as cause of death and drug prescription registries.
[14] Several governmental agencies exist that sponsor or support HSR, with their remits set by central and devolved governments.