Original article
In the lead-up to the 17th Congress for Health Services Research, held from October 10-12, 2018, the German Network for Health Services Research (DNVF) is presenting an updated position paper. A total of twelve measures are recommended to improve and ensure the long-term quality of health services research in Germany, as well as to increase the transfer of research findings into practice and thus the benefits of health services research. In this context, transparency, a focus on research goals and knowledge transfer, and the creation of research infrastructures are called for.
04.06.2018
As Senator and President of the Authority for Health and Consumer Protection of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, as Deputy Member of the Federal Council for the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, as a member of the Health Committee and the Federal-State Working Group, Cornelia Prufer-Storcks relies on the results of health services research. As an experienced health politician, she says in the cover interview with “Monitor Health Care Research”: “I am glad that we can rely on the results of health care research in many areas - especially on the deficits of our system.” In many, that means not in all. That's why she brought an extensive wish list with her to this year's German Congress for Health Services Research, of which she was patron.
04.06.2018
This is the first German congress on oversupply, a speaker praised the organizers, WINEG and TK on the one hand, and the INgef research institute from spectrumK on the other hand, which jointly organized the “Practice Health Services Research” forum in Berlin under the title “A lot helps not always much - On the way to the right care”. About “patient autonomy at the end of life” (Prof. Dr. mult. Eckhard Nagel, University of Bayreuth) about analyzes of “chemotherapies at the end of life” by Prof. Dr. Roland Linder (WINEG) and “Incorrect care and its effects on the patient” by Dr. Jochen Walker (InGef), “Overtherapy at the end of life” (author Dr. Matthias Thöns) and “Therapy goals for advanced cancer” by Dr. Johannes Bruns (German Cancer Society) led the discussion on “Use of antibiotics in primary care” with the question “Individual benefit vs. collective harm?” by Prof. Dr. Attila Altiner (University of Rostock), “Medicinal therapy for multimorbidity”, combined with the question “Where does the net benefit end?” (Prof. Dr. Petra A. Thürmann, University of Witten/Herdecke) to a comprehensive editorial on the topic “Together clever: Doctor-patient communication as the key to participation” by Prof. Dr. Norbert Schmacke (University of Bremen), which can be read in full from page 39.
04.06.2018
The Regensburg Tumor Center, founded in 1991, is a neutral and independent quality assurance center with a network of around 1,500 doctors* in Upper Palatinate and Lower Bavaria as well as 50 regional hospitals - including the Regensburg University Hospital. In accordance with the requirements of the Cancer Registry Act, the facility is responsible in its function as an “Institute for Quality Assurance and Health Services Research” for the structured collection and evaluation of the disease data aggregated in the tumor center. The “manager” of this data treasure is private lecturer Monika Klinkhammer-Schalke. The director of the tumor center, who has a doctorate (medicine) and a diploma (theology), and her team of around 30 people would like to draw conclusions about the development and progression of individual cancers and use the resulting findings to further develop the quality of care.
04.06.2018
For nearly two years, an ad-hoc commission of the German Network for Health Services Research (DNVF) has been addressing something that has been lacking in German healthcare, in policy-making, in the executive self-governing bodies, and also in the innovation fund it regulates: objectives. The 6th DNVF Health Services Research Forum, entitled "Healthcare Objectives," demonstrated that dealing with this topic is anything but trivial; in fact, it is highly complex.
04.06.2018
At the "Extrapolation 2018" conference, organized by "Monitor Versorgungsforschung" (MVF) on April 11, 2018, it became clear that while randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were considered by all speakers to be the gold standard for demonstrating effectiveness under ideal conditions, it remains unclear which agreed-upon processes can be used to transfer—or extrapolate—the results obtained in RCTs into real-world healthcare. This provided ample reason to follow this first German-language conference with a scientific symposium entitled "RCT – Bias Control?" The discussion featured PD Dr. Stefan Lange (Deputy Director of the Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care), health economist Prof. Dr. Jürgen Wasem, and Prof. Dr. Franz Porzsolt, founder of clinical economics and the Institute of Clinical Economics (ICE).
04.06.2018
Panel discussion at the 8th “Monitor Health Care Research” specialist congress. Prof. Dr. Thomas Wilke, Dr. Michael Happich, Prof. Dr. Dieter Paar, Dr. Ilona Köster-Steinebach, Corinna Schaefer, Prof. Dr. Reinhold Roski, Prof. Dr. Wolf-Dieter Ludwig, Prof. Dr. Bertram Häussler, Prof. Dr. Matthias Schrappe and Prof. Dr. Gerd Antes.
04.06.2018
Prompted by two very contrasting positions presented at the MVF conference „Extrapolation 2018“ by Prof. Dr. Gerd Antes on the one hand and Prof. Dr. Bertram Häussler on the other, „Monitor Versorgungsforschung“ asked Prof. Dr.-Ing. Thomas P. Zahn to provide a detailed cover interview clarifying terms: from learning systems, through machine learning, to the often and – according to Zahn – unfortunately also too often overused artificial intelligence.
04.06.2018
Comment by Prof. Dr. med. Franz Porzsolt, Chairman of the Board of the Institute of Clinical Economics (ICE)
04.06.2018
Maintaining high-quality medical care, particularly in rural areas, is the goal of IGiB GbR (Innovative Healthcare in Brandenburg). To this end, the consortium, comprised of the Brandenburg Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians and the health insurance funds AOK Nordost and BARMER, is developing tailored care models for Brandenburg. One of its most successful projects is the case manager agneszwei. The partners in this start-up joint venture believe that this approach to healthcare should be integrated into everyday practice nationwide.