Health Services Research: Opportunities for an Expanding Field of Inquiry
INTRODUCTION
In response to a request from the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR) in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), the predominant federal locus of health services research funding and training activities, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) established a Committee on Health Services Research: Training and Work Force Issues to study a series of questions about the health services research work force.
At the specific request of AHCPR, this brief interim statement was developed on the basis of discussions at the committee's first meeting. It is not a full-fledged IOM report. Rather, this document (1) offers a working definition of health services research that reflects its scope and breadth; (2) describes some future challenges for the field; and (3) comments on selected work force and training issues and critical dimensions of education and training, all of which will guide the committee's further examination of the subject.
The committee's final report is due out in mid-1995. As part of its remaining work, the committee expects to meet two more times, commission background papers, conduct an intensive, one-day workshop, and carry out a variety of survey-based activi-
