[HSOD Roster] 

The Health Services Organization and Delivery [HSOD] Study Section reviews health services research studies that include multidisciplinary investigations of the predictors, processes and outcomes of health services, including availability, access and acceptability; organization; decision-making; delivery, utilization and quality of care; and costs, cost-effectiveness and financing of health care. Health services include inpatient, ambulatory, sub-acute, acute, community-based, rehabilitative and long-term care. 

Specific areas covered by HSOD: 

• Community, personnel, economic, technological, and management resources and support, including studies of community resources, including supply and area market behaviors; health care provider characteristics; health insurance, reimbursement, and financing mechanisms; care management technology and assessment; delivery system characteristics.
  
  
• Health needs and health services utilization; studies of severity of illness; comorbidity; case mix and risk adjustment; psychosocial and economic antecedents; health care access; health services utilization and patterns.
  
  
• Healthcare organizations, programs, and delivery of services; studies of managed care organizations; integrated care delivery systems; disease management and modeling; continuous quality improvement; characteristics of the organization and patient outcomes; organizational performance and efficiency; cost-benefit analysis.
  
  
• Healthcare quality, effectiveness, outcomes; studies of application and evaluation of practice guidelines; quality of health care; patient and provider satisfaction; health status and outcomes assessment; evidence-based practice; health-related quality of life.
  
  
• Voluntary health and social service organizations and programs; studies of voluntary organizational programs for health advocacy, prevention and social support services; evaluation of public-private collaborative and inter-organizational network services delivery; intersection of formal and informal care provision.  

HSOD has the following shared interests within the HOP IRG:

• With Biostatistical Methods and Research Design [BMRD]: BMRD also reviews applications that focus on the organization and delivery of health-related services. Applications in which the primary emphasis is upon the development of new statistical methodology or the improvement of existing research designs may be reviewed by BMRD. Applications in which existing research methods are used and the emphasis is upon the organization and delivery of health-related services may be reviewed by HSOD.
  
  
• With Community Influences on Health Behavior [CIHB] and Community-Level Health Promotion [CLHP]: HSOD has shared interests with CLHP and CIHB. Applications that emphasize the delivery or organization of appropriate health services may be reviewed by HSOD.  Other applications that explore complex inter-relationships among economic, social, cultural, and environmental influences and health and health-related outcomes may be reviewed by CLHP or CIHB, depending on whether they involve a community-based intervention.
  
  
• With Nursing Science: Adults and Aging [NSAA] and Nursing Science: Children and Families [NSCF]: NSAA and NSCF review applications that emphasize nursing care and research relating to nursing interventions in patient care. Studies that primarily address the organization of health care delivery of the utilization of a health care delivery system, including that by medical personnel, may be reviewed by HSOD. Applications that examine health outcomes related to various nursing practices and interventions could be reviewed by NSAA or NSCF, depending upon the age group of the subjects.
  
  
• With Social Sciences and Population Studies [SSPS]: SSPS also reviews applications containing health economics. Applications related to the societal or individual costs associated with a given condition or to the effects of various policies on health outcomes or the well-being of the population could be reviewed by SSPS.  Applications in which the primary emphasis is upon the organization or delivery of health-related services may be reviewed by HSOD.

HSOD has the following shared interests outside the HOP IRG:

• With the Biology and Development of Aging [BDA] IRG: Applications with a primary focus on physiologic or biological processes could be reviewed by BDA when an aging population is specifically studied. However, applications with a primary approach on behavioral or social antecedents or outcomes and management of physical diseases could be reviewed by HSOD.
  
  
• With the Risk, Prevention and Health Behavior [RPHB] IRG:  Prevention research applications that focus on intra-/inter-personal processes within a health care setting may be assigned to the RPHB IRG. Studies without a preventive focus but that emphasize the utilization of intervention services, their costs, and delivery may be assigned to HSOD.
  
  
• With the Biobehavioral and Behavioral Processes [BBBP] IRG: Studies of behavioral disorders that focus on the utilization of intervention services, their costs, and delivery may be assigned to HSOD.  Studies of behavioral disorders that focus on individual level etiology or effects may be reviewed within BBBP.
  
  
• All study sections in AHRQ [Agency for Health Care Research and Quality] review applications in health services research, as does HSOD. When the primary program assignment is AHRQ, the application may be reviewed in an AHRQ Study Section. When the primary program assignment is an NIH Institute or Center, the application may be reviewed in HSOD.
  
  
• Study Sections in NIAAA, NIDA and NIMH may review applications in treatment and health services research. For more information, see the Institutes' respective web sites.