Organisierte Sitzung
BMBF Centre Funding – Status Quo and the Future
Vorträge
Health Economics Research in Germany - how it evolved in 40 years
Friedrich Breyer, Universität Konstanz
Einleitung
Statistics on German authors in JHE and HE will be contrasted with how German authors have established themselves in general economics journals over the same period (1982-2021). This is one way to approach the question whether the increased importance of German authors in the international literature is a peculiarity of health economics or reflects a general catching-up of German economics research, e.g. due to the establishment of the structured doctoral programmes.
International perspective on health economics research in Germany
Lise Rochaix, Paris School of Economics,
Einleitung
This talk looks at the development of health economics research in Germany from an international perspective.
Berlin Centre of Health Economics Research (BerlinHECOR)
Reinhard Busse, TU Berlin
Einleitung
Health System Performance Assessment (HSPA), as an overarching theme of the Centre, is an area of widespread political and scientific debate. Are there improvements in the performance of a system over time, do health systems or elements of health systems function equally well for all stakeholders and according to which criteria can health systems be assessed? BerlinHECOR focuses on these questions as well as on the methodological foundation of data generation, aggregation and evaluation in order to advance a comprehensive performance evaluation of the German health system. The scientific activities are oriented towards the Health Systems Framework of the WHO and analyze different areas with regard to the achievement of overarching goals of health systems (Improved Health, Responsiveness, Social and Financial Risk Protection, Improved Efficiency) as well as intermediate outcomes (Access, Coverage, Quality, Safety). BerlinHECOR operates under the roof of the inter-university Berlin School of Public Health and includes two departments of the TU Berlin and an institute of the Charité-Universitätsmedizin. National and international cooperation partners strengthen the centre structure. An Advisory Board consisting of ten members from self-administration, politics, industry and science ensures the practical relevance and quality of the research. Considerable successes have been achieved in promoting junior researchers. A large number of researchers completed their doctorates in the field of health economics and public health. The staff developed further in four junior research groups, two habilitations were completed, two junior professorships were created at the TU Berlin and one professorship at the Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin. Third-party funding from the BMG, the GKV-Spitzenverband and the Innovation Fund was generated from the Centre's content. These related, for example, to the topics of producing regular HSPA reports for Germany, evidence and case number development of new examination and treatment methods in the inpatient sector and emergency medical care. Results show weaknesses and needs for improvement in different areas, such as the care of the chronically ill, the financing of technologies, and access to data. Based on this, conclusions and recommendations for action can be derived for practice, politics and science, especially with regard to data collection and regular implementation of HSPA. Currently (since 2020), BerlinHECOR is in charge of producing the first two pilot HSPA reports for the BMG on the German health system.
Center for Health Economics Research Hannover (CHERH)
Jan Zeidler, Leibniz Universität Hannover
Einleitung
The overall goal of CHERH is to optimize health care systems and their performance in view of improving the health and quality of life of the population. Thereby, the CHERH makes a scientific contribution to support decision makers in the health care sector. In particular, during the funding period, CHERH research focused on the advancement of health economics methods and their application for the analysis of treatment structures of selected diseases as well as for process optimization. The spectrum of methods was originally divided into three main research fields and has been extended over time. The first research group deals with the empirical analysis of claims data. The second group carries out decision-analytical modelling. The third group of projects deals with process optimization and the measurement of patient preferences from a qualitative perspective. The CHERH structure and organization encourage the researches to interact across methods and subjects. The cooperation between clinics and health economics research ensures a high level of practical relevance. Physicians, economists and health scientists from LUH and MHH work together in the CHERH. The scientists have a large network of national and international cooperation partners at their disposal. A scientific advisory board with members from health insurance companies, the Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians, consulting companies and scientists from the fields of medicine and economics ensures the quality of research at the CHERH. Research subjects are multifaceted and cover, e.g., costs of rare or very common diseases, preferences and measures of quality of life, effects of regulations on economic behavior in all kinds of markets, integrated care, digitalization, and the pandemic. To promote methodological exchange, cross-institutional working groups, regular seminars and a doctoral colloquium have been established. Since the CHERH was founded, 18 doctorates have been completed. The junior research groups have significantly expanded the spectrum of methods and created the basis for the habilitation of the junior research group leaders. Thanks to the CHERH’s success and according to the sustainability strategy, a new health economics institute was founded at LUH in 2019 and two professors of health economics had been appointed. New positions for scientists were also created at the MHH to ensure continuity. Over the years and continuously, the members of the CHERH obtained extensive third-party funding from the BMG, the DFG, the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the Innovation Fund and other funding programs. The CHERH is therefore now able to support itself sustainably.
Competent in competition and health – Health Economics Research Center (CINCH)
Martin Karlsson, Universität Duisburg-Essen
Einleitung
"Competent in competition and health" – both claim and aspiration of the health economic research center CINCH in Essen. The current public debate on health care in high-income countries revolves around the conflict between providing comprehensive and high-quality medical services on the one hand and curbing the costs of health care on the other. More competition in the markets for health care and insurance can help mitigate this trade-off. Issues of competition in health care are therefore at the core of health economics research at CINCH. CINCH brings together several health economics research environments in the region: the RWI – Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung in Essen with its health economics division, the Faculty for Economic and Business Administration of Duisburg-Essen University with two health economics-oriented chairs, and the Institute for Competition Economics (DICE) at the Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf. Promotion of early career researchers is an important part of CINCH’s mission. Beside two projects led by Full Professors, three junior research groups were established, and two Assistant Professorships are currently affiliated with CINCH. A dozen doctoral dissertations have been completed by CINCH researchers and four former team members have been offered tenured professorial positions at other universities. Another prominent goal of CINCH is to promote internationalization. We host two international scientific events each year: the Essen Health Conference with a remit at the intersection of health and labour economics, and the Essen Economics of Mental Health Workshop; both belong to the leading conferences within their respective fields. These two flagship events are complemented by several other activities, such as a guest professorship programme supported by the DAAD, an international exchange programme, and the Essen health economics seminar series, where distinguished researchers from all over the world present their research. Based on CINCH’s achievements in research, a large amount of external grants, e.g. from the DFG, the U.S. National Institutes of Health, the Leibniz Association, Deutsche Krebshilfe, the DAAD, and ZI-Versorgungsforschung, could be acquired to complement the work in existing projects and extending the research to the areas of mental health and prevention.
Hamburg Center for Health Economics (HCHE)
Jonas Schreyögg, Universität Hamburg
Einleitung
The HCHE was founded to bundle health economic research in Hamburg with the aim of generating evidence that combines scientific ambition with practical implications for policy and decision makers. A special feature of the center is its interdisciplinary orientation. As a joint center of the Medical Faculty and the School of Business, Economics and Social Sciences, the center’s philosophy is to overcome barriers between disciplines to achieve a deeper understanding of questions surrounding health economics. HCHE covers six research fields, three of which were directly strengthened by the center funding: health economic evaluation, outpatient and inpatient care and population health. The focus of the projects was on mental health and excessive alcohol consumption. Other projects developed methods for health-related quality of life, examined how remuneration incentives promote productive cooperation between service providers and examined incentives in DRG remuneration. HCHE is managed by a board of directors, which determines the content-related orientation of the center, coordinates research projects, promotes international networking and develops concepts for the promotion of young researchers. The work of the directorate is supported by a management board and is advised by an international scientific advisory board and a practical advisory board. The promotion of young researchers was significantly intensified through the Center's funding. Numerous stays abroad by HCHE scientists as well as international scientists at the HCHE were funded. Furthermore, additional doctoral courses were offered and a Center Day is held twice a year, at which young researchers have the opportunity to present their work. Since 2018, an annual HCHE Summer School has been offered. In addition to two BMBF junior research groups, three junior professorships, including one with tenure track, and two further W3 professorships have been created. Building on the BMBF center funding, various collaborative projects from BMBF, EU, Innovation Fund as well as individual projects from the DFG have been acquired for the center. Among the EU projects is a European Training Network (ETN), i.e. a European doctoral program with partners from York, Rotterdam, Bocconi, Odense and Lisbon. In order to strengthen interaction between researchers of the center and policy-makers/ practitioners, a special dialogue event was created. Within the framework of "HCHE Research Results Live", current research results are presented by HCHE researchers. An essential part of the event is the subsequent panel discussion, in which, in addition to the HCHE researchers, two speakers from policy or practice take part.