Further healthcare research projects provide practical insights
16.05.2023 13:30
According to the Innovation Committee at the Federal Joint Committee, the findings from further health services research projects can improve care:
WirtMed – Prescribing medicines: Testing and controlling cost-effectiveness and quality
Whether the doctor's prescription of a drug was cost-effective is checked by the statutory health insurance associations and the statutory health insurance companies. However, the procedures used have come under criticism, including: because practices with a wide range of care are disadvantaged and it can happen that expensive medications in particular are not prescribed despite a medical need. In five sub-projects, the WirtMed project examined different aspects of checking and controlling medication prescriptions in the outpatient sector. The starting point was the question of which influencing factors play a role in prescribing behavior. A “profiling” strategy was also tested to identify borderline cases as well as statistical and real anomalies. The analyzes were prepared in the format of a “tool box”.
From the perspective of the Innovation Committee, the project results can make a relevant contribution to further developing the testing procedures and the control of drug prescriptions. The findings are therefore passed on to those responsible: the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Funds, the associations of health and nursing care funds at the federal level, the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance (Dental) Physicians and the Associations of Statutory Health Insurance (Dental) Physicians. The Central Institute for Statutory Health Insurance has already offered to host the developed “Tool Box” in the future and, if necessary, further develop it.
PMS KIDS – Prospective, multicenter study on the effectiveness of outpatient stuttering therapy according to the KIDS stuttering modification approach
Of the over 3 million primary school children in Germany, around 1.4 percent stutter. In severe cases, stuttering can prevent communication entirely. The PMS KIDS project evaluated the effectiveness of outpatient extensive stuttering therapy according to the stuttering modification procedure (“Children are allowed to stutter”) in primary school age. The procedure can already be used as a statutory health insurance benefit. The aim of the evaluation was to close the evidence gap identified in the S3 guideline “Fluency Disorders” on the effectiveness of the treatment of primary school children who stutter. According to the Innovation Committee, this is what the project achieved.
The short-term effectiveness with regard to the subjective impairments associated with stuttering could be confirmed. Objectively measured improvements in the severity of stuttering were shown in a before-and-after comparison for the measurement times 6 and 12 months after the start of therapy. The Innovation Committee asks the Working Group of Scientific Medical Societies (AWMF) to examine the extent to which the results can be taken into account in the design and further development of corresponding S3 guidelines. For information purposes, it forwards the findings obtained in the project to the Subcommittee on Arranged Services of the Joint Federal Committee as well as to relevant federal associations such as the German Federal Association for Speech Therapy. v.
PsychCare – Effectiveness of cross-sector care models in psychiatry
Standard care for mentally ill people in statutory health insurance can be further developed through model projects (Section 64b SGB V). The healthcare research project PsychCare examined the benefits, costs and efficiency of existing psychiatric model projects compared to standard care. The views of the patients, relatives and those treating them were asked.
From the perspective of the Innovation Committee, it is not possible to clearly deduce from the project results whether care is better in model clinics. But the project results provide information that can be used to further develop model projects for psychiatric care. That is why the Federal Ministry of Health, the German Hospital Society e. V. and the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Funds as well as the associations of health and nursing care funds at the federal level were informed about the results. In addition, the Innovation Committee will report the results of the instruments developed in the project and the agreed quality indicators to the German Society for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Psychosomatics and Neurology. V. pass on for information.