Abstract
Decision makers' information needs in present day health care systems are growing at the same pace as the need to manage economic and health care resources more rigor ously. It is in the new socioeconomic and demographic scenarios and within a better informed society—demanding explanations about how and in what their tax money is spent—where we find the source of this need, and of the appreciation ofscientific know ledge as a way to inform the different types of decisions being made in health care systems
This paper examines briefly the evolution of health-related research and its influ ence in clinical practice and health care management. It also explores the rationality of the potential conflict between the main decision makers in health care: doctors and managers. Finally, it states the experience of a health technology assessment agency as an approach for the management of knowledge.
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