Epistemic dialog between health services and operations research

The study proposes a dialogical approach between OR and Health Services Planning and Epidemiology based on the similarities of their own epistemological experiences, according to Habermas' Theory of Knowledge. As a field of application, healthcare services planning and epidemiology are characterized as Complex Societal Problems, requiring multidisciplinary and multi dimensional approaches. A review of the literature on OR efficiency healthcare services applications is made to confront the perspective of the OR analyst and that of the health manager. Finally, an agenda is proposed to enhance the interaction between the disciplines, by increasing actuality of the OR methods' findings, to guarantee that the results of health services research will really be put in practice by health policy decision makers.