Mission of the Health Services & Economics Branch

The Health Services and Economics Branch (HSEB) is one of three branches in NCI's Applied Research Program. The attached organization chart shows HSEB's position within NCI's structure.

Our mission is to support, conduct, and coordinate research on the dissemination of effective cancer-related health services into community practice. We study demographic, social, economic, and health system factors as they relate to providing preventive, screening, diagnostic, and treatment services for cancer. The ultimate purpose of this research is to improve cancer outcomes, reduce cancer-related health disparities, and reduce the burden of cancer to patients, their families, and society.

The Branch carries out its mission by:

• monitoring cancer-related health services utilization and outcomes among individuals in the general population and among selected population subgroups;
• monitoring the dissemination and effective delivery of cancer-related health services by community-based health care providers and health care delivery organizations;
• assessing the role of economic factors related to the equitable, efficient, and effective provision of cancer-related health services;
• developing and disseminating data resources to support policy-relevant research on economic and health services research questions across the cancer continuum;
• developing and improving the methods and techniques of economics and health services research related to cancer.