The Institute for Health Policy and System Research (IHPSR), established in September 1997, is to be a not-for-profit, independent organization aiming to promote, conduct and exchange timely information on health services and policy research in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR).
For many years, Hong Kong has enjoyed both a free market economy and progressively well developed social services. Together, these have contributed to the many recent improvements in the quality of life, including enhanced opportunities for further education, rapid increases in home ownership, and the extension of life expectancy rates.
Such improvements directly affect the expectations and demands of both health care consumers and providers. However, despite much research into health policy and health systems and the efforts of various organizations and individuals to find innovative solutions to the problems faced by both service users and providers, such work has, until now, had a relatively low profile.