[History of Health Services Research Project: Interview with Kerr White.]

Abstract

The interview conducted in 1998 with Kerr L. White (1917-2014) is presented, translated into Spanish. White, an economist, epidemiologist, statistician, general physician, and health advocate, was highly critical of the separation between research, clinical practice, epidemiology, public health, and health policies. He was one of the pioneers in healthcare services research. His primary concern was society's responsibility to allocate healthcare resources in the most appropriate way to improve the health of populations. White's work critically addresses the absence of a population perspective in epidemiology applied to healthcare services and systems, and the lack of evaluation of the social and economic impact of practices. He also highlights the dehumanization of care processes. Despite being undercited in health literature, we reintroduce his figure with the aim of disseminating the relevance of his thoughts and contributions.