Objective: To provide guidance on improving the quality of case studies in health services research.
Data sources: Secondary data, drawing from previous case study research.
Research design: Guidance is provided to two audiences: potential case study investigators (eight items) and reviewers of case study proposals (four additional items).
Principal findings: The guidance demonstrates that many operational steps can be undertaken to improve the quality of case studies. These steps have been a hallmark of high-quality case studies in related fields but have not necessarily been practiced in health services research.
Conclusions: Given higher-quality case studies, the case study method can become a valuable tool for health services research.