KBV and ZI are bringing health services research out of the ivory tower
31.08.2011 10:25
KBV and ZI want to initiate a broad discussion about the supply situation. Other institutions should also be able to publish evaluations on the public website sorgesatlas.de.
The National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (KBV) and the Central Institute for Statutory Health Insurance in Germany (ZI) have activated a public internet platform for healthcare research. The website's motto is “Inform, Discuss, Act”. www.sorgeatlas.de Give doctors, scientists and health policy actors insight into data on care and their evaluations and provide a forum for discussion. “The aim is to present scientific results in a way that is suitable for everyday use,” says Dr. Andreas Köhler, Chairman of the ZI and KBV, at the presentation of the website.
The regional supply needs are currently not systematically assessed. There is no general source of information for decision-makers in the healthcare system that could be used to identify regional differences in the use and quality of statutory health care, explains Köhler. “In order to shed light on this darkness, we need health care research based on routine data from service billing with health insurance companies. We now want to close the information gap: Lieferatlas.de presents the situation with interactive maps, tables and graphics. There is an in-depth report for each evaluation,” says Köhler.
The portal is intended to pool insights, create transparency, stimulate discussion and ultimately initiate action. “Versorgungsatlas.de is a long-term project. It would be desirable for the portal to serve health insurance companies and their contractual partners as a reference for the further development of care in the future and for patients and doctors to be able to understand this at the click of a mouse,” explains Köhler.
The ZI is responsible for maintaining the portal. Dr. Dominik Graf von Stillfried: “The ZI regularly creates its own contributions. We will also post the contributions and comments submitted to sorgesatlas.de into the site's editorial system. We do not undertake any editorial processing of submitted articles. Their methodological evaluation is carried out by a committee of independent scientists, as is usual with specialist journals. We want to conduct discussions in public: every user can comment on every evaluation in the forum. “In this way, we want to bring the KV system closer together with the scientific and health policy experts,” said Stillfried.
On October 10th, the ZI invites you to a specialist conference. This will address the question of how regional comparisons can help to improve care overall.