Background: The review of European health management research was undertaken over a 10-year period, from July 1995 to June 2005, to produce an account of the state of research, including its quality, range and any gaps; and to assess the implications of the research, its potential for uptake by policy bodies and the need for future research and the direction it might take.
Methods: To identify relevant research studies and bodies of work, two methods were employed: (i) a standard database search and (ii) special request to members of the European Health Management Association (EHMA) via its electronic newsletter.
Results: The results from the database search yielded a modest flow of relevant (at least in terms of the definition of health management employed) material. Only 63 relevant journal articles were finally selected out of 1047 identified. Very few have focused explicitly or primarily on mainstream management issues affecting the public's health. There is also a heavy bias towards heath care systems. Two main conclusions emerged: (i) there exists limited original research in the area of health management; outside the UK, this limitation is even more apparent and (ii) health management appears to be an underdeveloped research area throughout Europe.
Conclusion: There exists a paucity of public health management research aimed at strengthening the evidence for effective interventions, effective decision-making and priority-setting. There needs to be support for research that not only crosses academic disciplines and institutions but which also embraces the diverse range of organizations and professions engaged in managing and delivering public health.