title: Health services research in urology.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Health services research (HSR) is increasingly important given the focus on patient-centered, cost-effective, high-quality health care. We examine how HSR affects contemporary evidence-based urologic practice and its role in shaping future urologic research and care.
  
  
  METHODS
  PubMed, urologic texts, and lay literature were reviewed for terms pertaining to HSR/outcomes research and urologic disease processes.
  
  
  RESULTS
  HSR is a broad discipline that focuses on access, cost, and outcomes of Health care. Its use has been applied to a myriad of urologic conditions to identify deficiencies in access, to evaluate cost-effectiveness of therapies, and to evaluate structural, process, and outcome quality measures.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  HSR utilizes an evidence-based approach to identify the most effective ways to organize/manage, finance, and deliver high-quality urologic care and to tailor care optimized to individuals.
authors.affiliation: Division of Urology, Department of Surgery, Brigham and Women's/Faulkner Hospitals, Harvard Medical School, 1153 Centre Street, Suite 4420, Boston, MA 02130, USA.
authors.forename: Hua-Yin
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Ulmer
authors.forename: Keith J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Kowalczyk
authors.forename: Jim C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Hu
mesh_terms: D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine; D006302:Health Services Research / Q000639:trends*; D006801:Humans; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D014570:Urologic Diseases / Q000191:economics / Q000628:therapy; D014572:Urology / Q000639:trends*