Introduction: ideas, interests and institutions in health care policy

The overarching aim of this Research Handbook on Health Care Policy stems from the idea that students of health care need to take policy more seriously, which translates into two main points. First, analysts of health care policy need to draw on conceptual models of the policy process. We focus on the ‘stages model’ and the ‘3Is’ model of ideas, interests and institutions. Second, we apply these concepts to a wider range of countries than are often considered. We explore the impact of transnational factors and the clear divide between health care research on the global North and on the global South.