The 1999 reform of the Polish healthcare system revealed deficiencies in the research base and a lack of organized systems of information provision. Professionals who most need effective information systems are policymakers and healthcare managers. The main aim of the described study was to obtain data describing the needs, preferences and limitations of healthcare managers as information users, and to identify environmental factors influencing their information behaviour. A national postal survey was conducted and supplemented with information collected during focus groups, semi-structured interviews and through analysis of relevant policy documents. The target population included hospital chief executives, medical directors, head nurses and directors of the institutions responsible for health services planning and purchasing. Target institutions were drawn systematically from official lists, stratified by regions of the country and hospital reference level. The interviews were conducted with primary care unit managers and with Ministry of Health officials. National health strategy and directives, cost-effectiveness analyses of interventions and clinical practice guidelines emerged as information of primary importance to respondents. The main barriers to effective information behaviour were found to be: attitudes towards research activity, lack of appropriately processed data, lack of skills enabling information seeking and appraisal, inappropriate format of publications, ineffective dissemination of information and absence of services facilitating access to evidence. The current information environment of healthcare managers, together with their attitude towards information and deficiencies in information skills, appear to serve as a barrier to evidence-based practice in the Polish healthcare system.