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Introduction to Health Services Research : A Self-Study Course
Module 2: Brief History of Health Services Research (Page 27 of 40)
The National Information Center on Health Services Research and Health Care Technology (NICHSR)
NICHSR's mandate is to improve "..the collection, storage, analysis, retrieval, and dissemination of information on health services research, clinical practice guidelines, and on health care technology, including the assessment of such technology."
The 1993 NIH Revitalization Act created a National Information Center on Health Services Research and Health Care Technology (NICHSR) at the National Library of Medicine. NICHSR's mandate is to improve "the collection, storage, analysis, retrieval, and dissemination of information on health services research, clinical practice guidelines, and on health care technology, including the assessment of such technology."
 The Center works closely with the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), formerly the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR), to improve the dissemination of the results of health services research.
The overall goals of the NICHSR are to:
- make the results of health services research, including practice guidelines and technology assessments, readily available to health practitioners, health care administrators, health policy makers, payers, and the information professionals who serve these groups;
- improve access to data and information needed by the creators of health services research; and
- contribute to the information infrastructure needed to foster patient record systems that can produce useful health services research data as a by-product of providing health care.
Find more information about NICHSR in Module 3.
View Key Projects and Milestones in Health Services Research.
Discussion Questions
- Think about the content you have retrieved from NICHSR over the years. Given the work you do, what content have you used on a regular basis and what would you like to see more of from this agency?
- What is the intersection between health services research and public health? Why does NICHSR provide both public health and health services research content to researchers, librarians and the public health community?
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