Archive:
Can wearable data reveal psychological well-being based on sleep and activity levels? Can wearables help improve the treatment of depression? These are some of the questions being explored by the "BluesWatch+" study currently being conducted by the Free University of Berlin (FU). Project partners include the Berlin-based IT startup Thryve mHealth Pioneers GmbH and the TK health insurance company, whose members can log into the study using their own wearable device via the company's "Meine TK" platform – "regardless of whether they are feeling well or experiencing psychological distress." The trio's primary goal is to demonstrate "data equivalence," as Paul Burggraf, one of the startup's founders, explained in an interview with "Monitor Versorgungsforschung." This means nothing less than – according to Burggraf – attempting to "prove that the collected wearable data is just as meaningful as data from PROMs (Patient Reported Outcome Measures) or clinical trials.".
29.11.2021
Anyone in Germany who thinks of "Big Data" or "Artificial Intelligence" might first think of Prof. Dr. Gerd Antes' "Spurious Correlations" (MVF 05/18). Or perhaps of the often-used and certainly not inaccurate phrase "Garbage in, garbage out," coined by IBM programmer George Fuechsel around 2004. Much has happened since then, arguably more than in all the years before, especially since 2007, when the first iPhone was released: Since then, available knowledge has doubled year after year. A deep insight into what is happening in the healthcare sector has been provided since 2004 by the "BioData World Congress," initially held in Cambridge and later in Basel, which proudly calls itself "Europe's largest congress on Big Data in pharmaceutical development and healthcare." In 2021, the event attracted around 2,000 participants who listened to over 350 speakers, aiming – as the congress announcement stated – to be "part of the story." Strikingly, participants and speakers came from almost all over the world; only a very, very few were from Germany. It would have been worthwhile.
29.11.2021
In a recent statement, the “Interdisciplinary Commission for Pandemic Research” (IKP) of the German Research Foundation (DFG) demands that data for health-related research must be more accessible and easier to link.
29.11.2021
With a concise but succinct four-point program, the German Healthcare Research Network (DNVF) is committed to making the German healthcare system patient-centered and future-proof with evidence-based information. According to the DNVF in a press release, the German healthcare system urgently needs important adjustments through healthcare-related research and development (R&D).
29.11.2021
At the hybrid congress entitled "Results Count! Impulses for Greater Outcome Orientation and Patient Benefit in the Healthcare System," held at the Langenbeck-Virchow-Haus in Berlin, the most important impetus was provided by Prof. Dr. Reinhold Busse (TU Berlin), following the welcoming remarks by the two organizers – Prof. Dr. Alexander Schachtrupp, Managing Director of the B. Braun Foundation, and Dr. hc Helmut Hildebrandt, CEO of OptiMedis AG. His presentation, entitled "From a 'Volume' to a 'Value'-Based Healthcare System," kicked off a four-part parallel workshop experience. This culminated in the panel discussion "From Volume to Value," but was ultimately surpassed by the finale: the collaborative development of the prepared discussion paper for a "Berlin Appeal" for "Greater Outcome Orientation and Patient Benefit in the Healthcare System.".
29.11.2021
Comment by Dr. Michael Brinkmeier, Chairman of the Board of the German Stroke Foundation
29.11.2021
In inzwischen sieben Memoranden des Deutschen Netzwerks Versorgungsforschung wird ein sehr granularer Konzept- und Methoden-Baukasten entwickelt, wobei sich lediglich ein Memorandum – das Vierte – aus dem Jahr 2016 explizit mit der „theoretischen und normativen Fundierung der Versorgungsforschung“ (1) beschäftigt. Die Autoren schließen sich darin der Aussage einer vorausgegangenen DFG-Stellungnahme (2) an, in dem sie unterstreichen, dass in Deutschland „die Entwicklung einer theoretischen Versorgungsforschung“ vernachlässigt worden sei. Wahrscheinlich weil genau das bis heute noch nicht geschehen ist, wird in allen Memoranden, wenn vom eigenen Forschungsfeld die Rede ist, Versorgungsforschung lediglich als Wissenschaftsfeld, jedoch nicht als Wissenschaft bezeichnet. Fehlt etwa ein theoretisches Gerüst?
29.11.2021
Pharmaceutical research is making rapid progress; Year after year, drug authorities approve new therapies. But some innovations do not reach patients or only reach them with a delay. What obstacles are there – and what needs to change?
29.11.2021
Den Weg für eine bürgernahe Versorgungsforschung von unten – bottom up – will die Medizinische Hochschule Brandenburg, eine staatlich anerkannte Universität in kommunaler und freigemeinnütziger Trägerschaft, mit ihrem neuen Masterstudiengang Versorgungsforschung bereiten. Angesiedelt am 2019 gegründeten Zentrum für Versorgungsforschung Brandenburg (s. MVF 05/19) sollen sich ab kommendem Sommersemester 2022 Masterstudenten an ganz handfesten Problemstellungen nicht nur ein neues Verständnis von umfassender Bildung, Forschung und Entwicklung in Medizin, Psychologie, Psychotherapie und weiteren Gesundheitsberufen bilden, sondern mit ihrer forscherischen Arbeit zu nachhaltigen Ansätzen und Methoden in Forschung, Lehre und Versorgung im Land Brandenburg gelangen.
29.11.2021
The establishment of the Department of Health Services Research is closely linked to computer science in Oldenburg. Projects on the communication and analysis of health data have been underway there since 1990. At the affiliated institute OFFIS – under the direction of Prof. H.-J. Appelrath – solutions for analyzing data from the Epidemiological Cancer Registry of Lower Saxony were developed, which are now also used in other German states. Furthermore, the interoperability of information systems, particularly the development of reference implementations and tools for the DICOM standard under the direction of Prof. P. Jensch, was a key research focus. From 2005 onward, topics such as Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) – i.e., technologies for supporting independent living for older people in their homes – human-technology interaction, and support for caregivers – under the direction of Prof. A. Hein and Prof. S. Boll – were added to the research profile. Based on this experience, computer science in Oldenburg supported the development of the new Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences and, in particular, conceived and helped establish the Department of Health Services Research.