WASHINGTON, D.C. (January 10, 2008)—AcademyHealth today launched a new online resource, www.HSRmethods.org, that provides researchers collaborating across disciplines with an easy-to-use tool for understanding health services research methods. Health services research is a multidisciplinary field that studies how different factors affect access to health care, the quality and cost of health care, and ultimately, health and well-being. Health services research can be used to inform health policy at the state and federal level, improve quality of care in hospitals and health centers, and evaluate strategies to reduce health care costs. The site includes an overview of the language, training resources, and analytic techniques used by researchers from different academic backgrounds and provides a forum for discussing methods used in the published literature. “HSRmethods.org is a wonderful tool to help researchers break down the silos that can exist between academic disciplines,” says Bryan Dowd, Ph.D., chair of the AcademyHealth Methods Council and Professor in the Division of Health Policy and Management at the University of Minnesota. “For example, economists, statisticians, sociologists and epidemiologists sometimes use different language to talk about the same methods and the same language to talk about different methods. HSRmethods.org will spur dialogue around these perspectives and help move the field forward.” HSRmethods.org features several modules including: • A large glossary of terms with synonyms, related terms, figures, and examples; • Recommended readings; presentations and relevant training opportunities; • Links to online resources including databases, online tutorials, and working papers; • A guide to the HIPAA privacy rule, including sample authorization and data use agreements; a training module on ethics in research; and, • A discussion forum. The site is designed as a launching pad for future methods training to improve understanding of HSR across disciplines and support ongoing development and refinement of HSR methods in general. “This site is really a first step in a larger effort to encourage more and better health services research by improving both the quality of methods used and the understanding of those methods across disciplines,” says Patricia Pittman, executive vice president at AcademyHealth. “It is part of our mission to support the field’s ability to deliver actionable research that informs health policy and practice and improves health and health care.” HSRmethods.org is overseen by the AcademyHealth Methods Council, a distinguished group of methodologists. The site is funded in part by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ); AstraZeneca; and PhRMA. AcademyHealth is the professional home for health services researchers, policy analysts, and practitioners, and a leading, non-partisan resource for the best in health research and policy. AcademyHealth seeks to improve health and health care by generating new knowledge and moving knowledge into action.