This is a seminar-based course in which we will review a variety of papers in the field of healthcare OR. We will survey and evaluate several papers within topic areas and try to identify areas for potential future research. Some papers will be distinctly OR, while others will come from researchers in the field of health policy and health economics. One thing that you will notice as we go through the literature is that the area of healthcare engineering is interdisciplinary in nature and encourages solutions that are derived from various areas of expertise. This interdisciplinary approach is also encouraged through the many funding bodies that currently support healthcare engineering research in North America. The Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR) funds the majority of healthcare research in Canada. It is composed of 14 virtual 'institutes' that represent all facets of health research. The Institute of Health Services and Policy Research, IHSPR, is most related to the type of collaborative research discussed above. It supports innovative research, capacity-building, and knowledge translation in order to improve health care service delivery. In 2001 and 2004, IHSPR was involved with national consultations on health services priorities entitled "Listening for Direction." The result of these consultations was a set of priorities for Canadian researchers in the area of health care policy and management. Of course, not all of the topics are relevant to Healthcare Engineering, but many of the readings and articles discussed in this class will align with the most recent set of priorities.