A health services system is the organization and delivery of care to individuals and groups of people to improve and maintain their physical and mental well being. It is a complex network of health professionals, hospitals, community organizations, and other institutions. It includes services that help prevent disease, diagnose and treat illness and injury, as well as rehabilitation from disabling conditions. Health services research is a multidisciplinary field of scientific investigation that studies how factors such as social structures, financing systems, organizational structures and processes, and health technologies affect access to health care services, the quality of those services, and our health and well-being.
Health services research involves a wide range of disciplines including clinical medicine, epidemiology, public health, statistics, economics, and political science. The field of health services research (HSR) has evolved to incorporate concepts, theories, and research methods from these and many other disciplines. HSR studies the ways in which social structure, financial resources, and market forces influence healthcare availability, access, and quality; how these influences differ among populations; and the implications for public policy.
The health services framework is a conceptual model that describes the functions of a healthcare system. It identifies the roles and value of services at three stages: prevention of disease before the onset of symptoms; management of existing diseases and injuries; and maintenance and rehabilitation from illness and injury. The framework also identifies the characteristics of effective health services and their impact on population health.
Countries around the world provide their citizens with a wide variety of health services. Some examples of this include the United States, which provides a mix of private and public sector financed insurance plans, and provides its citizens with access to a wide range of healthcare facilities. Most of these facilities are governed by the Federal Government, as in the case of the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Indian Health Service and the Federal Bureau of Prisons. In contrast, other nations like Japan and Singapore provide their citizens with a more concentrated type of health services. In the case of Japan, they have a high physician-to-population ratio while in Singapore the health services are concentrated into specialized hospitals.
The differences in how health services are provided in different countries can be attributed to both the availability of financial resources and the culture and expectations of a nation. These factors can change and shape the nature and form of a local health service system over time. For example, the growth of technology, changes in the age distribution of the population, and shifts from acute to chronic disease have influenced delivery systems over time. Similarly, regulatory changes and norms about healthcare have also influenced expected performance and outcomes from the delivery of health services.