EMS and health planning: An opportunity for integrating research and policy

Health planning and emergency medical services (EMSJ are two recent attempts t o rationalize the health care delivery system. Although these programs have evolved separately, conceptually meeting their respective mandates requires an effective, cooperative partnership. One potential mutually beneficial area is the juncture between research development and research application. Critics have argued that EMS research ha been troubled by uneven quality of data and inadequate integration with the policy decision-making process. In turn, health planning has been criticized for lacking reliable empirical data to support development of goals and programmatic alternatives. The authors suggest how these problematic areas could be strengthened by coordinating EMS research with the health planning process. Exemplary health planning mechanisms that could play an important role in promoting a formalized exchange between planners and EMS researchers are proposed.