Current Projects
National/International Research Projects
COMED - Pushing the Boundaries of Cost and Outcome Analysis of Medical Technologies
Background
Many modern health care systems use processes of systematic evaluation of medical procedures, technologies, or tools to assess efficacy, safety, and costs. To date, however, there is no international standard for reports, which makes interpretation and comparability difficult between countries.
Objective
The aim of the project is to further develop existing methods for cost and outcome analyses in the field of medical technology. To this end, instruments within the framework of Health Technology Assessment (HTA) and Health System Performance (HSP) are used and further developed so that they are more accessible and usable for policy-making. In this context, the use of data collected under real conditions will be investigated and existing methods will be expanded. A special focus of the HCHE is the investigation of geographical differences in the use and distribution of the selected medical technology products. To that end, a model for distinguishing warranted and unwarranted variation in the use of medical devices will be developed. Geographical variations within and between European countries as well as possible explanations for these variations, such as system differences, will be examined.
Approach
This project demands a wide range of tasks that will be handled by a cooperation between five European universities. The HCHE is mainly responsible for the development of an international database for the investigation of geographical variation in the use of medical technology. Subsequently, the collected data will be evaluated using current econometric methods.
Funding
Research Framework Programme of the European Commission (Horizon 2020)
Nursing intensity and nursing-sensitive outcome indicators in German hospitals [PPE]
Background
In hospitals, the quality of care has a relevant influence on the quality and degree of success of treatment. Inadequate care can have serious consequences such as bedsores that no longer heal.
Objective
The PPE project is investigating the relationship between the number of nurses and the quality of patient care - such as wound infections contracted during hospitalisation.
Procedure
To this end, routine data from hospitals and health insurance companies are combined and evaluated with primary data on the subjectively perceived quality of care collected during the project. Over a certain period of time, the development of this relationship (number of nurses to quality of care) and potential differences between specialist departments such as internal medicine and surgery will be observed. Thus, the specialist departments that are most sensitive to nursing can be identified, i.e. where the greatest improvement in the quality of treatment can be achieved through more staff deployment.
The results influence patient care on several levels. For hospitals, they provide a scientific basis on how they can deploy their nursing staff sensibly. So far, decisions have been based largely on estimates of labour supply and demand. These results can be used by health policymakers to make targeted use of funding to strengthen nursing care.
Funding
The project will be funded for 3 years with a total of approx. 573 thousand euros by the Innovation Committee at the Federal Joint Committee for the Open-Topic Promotion of Health Services Research in accordance with Section 92a (2) sentence 1 of the German Social Code, Book V: Research projects for the further development of care in the statutory health insurance system (funding code: 01VSF17038).
Assessing patients’ valuations of treatments considering outcomes
Expanding the choice set of patients is beneficial as it increases competition among health care providers, which is assumed to lead to lower costs. However, whether the patients make informed hospital choice decisions has not been examined extensively.
Objective
In order to assess whether patients make informed decisions about their hospital choice, the relationship between values that patients assign to the availability of inpatient services and different health outcomes is analysed.
Approach
Initially, the demand for inpatient services is estimated, considering the available treatments, as well as the characteristics of patients and hospitals. The values that patients assign to the availability of treatments are then derived from the demand analysis. Treatments for common health conditions are assessed separately to ensure the accurate measurement of outcomes. Two data sources are being used in this project. The Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) provides information on all hospital admissions by the National Health Service in England since 1989. Information on 30-day mortality is taken from the mortality data of the Office for National Statistics.
Funding
Ideen- und Risikofonds, Universität Hamburg
European COvid Survey
Background
The COVID 19 pandemic has now had a firm grip on the world for some time, posing unique challenges to society and policy. Far-reaching restrictions and regulations have been put in place to minimise the risk of infection. However, these measures cannot be implemented without the support and confidence of society. The issue of vaccination preparedness against COVID-19 has also taken on a public health and health economic dimension. It is therefore crucial for the success of the vaccination campaign to understand which groups in the population are critical of vaccination for basic immunisation or booster vaccination and for what reasons. A better information base on the motivations of these groups enables a targeted approach to convince them to vaccinate.
Objective
The objective of the European Covid Survey (ECOS) is to assess the acceptance of the measures introduced and how pandemic-related concerns and problems are dealt with in European society. The overarching themes of ECOS are vaccination preparedness, individual, financial and economic concerns, perception and acceptance of regulations, and information policy and trust in information sources.
Approach
Under the direction of the Hamburg Center for Health Economics (HCHE) and in cooperation with the Nova School of Business and Economics (Portugal), Bocconi University (Italy) and Erasmus University Rotterdam (Netherlands), waves of surveys have been conducted for this representative survey in eight European countries at intervals of about two months since April 2020.
Together with cooperation partners, questionnaires are being developed that cover current issues and issues relevant to decision-makers with a view to the dynamic development of the pandemic. The questionnaires are translated by partnersfrom the respective countries into their native languages and made available via an online platform. With the help of the market research company Dynata, it will be ensured that the samples from the different countries are representative in terms of age structure, regional distribution, gender and education.
Funding
The project is funded by the Excellence Initiative of the University of Hamburg and by the German Research Foundation (KO 6492/1-1, STA 1311/5-1) and it received funding from the EU Framework Programme of the European Union for Research and Innovation "Horizon 2020" under Grant No. 721402.
Political Consulting
ESV - Uniform, sector-equivalent remuneration
Background
Patients should be treated where they receive the most medically appropriate treatment. However, the current reimbursement structure stands in the way of this. This also affects "sector-equivalent" services that can be treated both as outpatient and inpatient care. Outpatient and inpatient service provision are reimbursed from different budgets which cements sector boundaries and prevents an understanding of joint service provision. Outpatient services are predominantly reimbursed according to individual services, while inpatient treatments are reimbursed via per-case flat rates. This includes financial incentives, whereby economic considerations can compete with the medical needs of the patient.
Objective
The objective is to develop a viable concept that shows how uniform, sector-equivalent reimbursement can be structured. It is intended to enable political decision-makers to initiate cross-sectoral reimbursement that is supported by service providers and health insurers. In this way, the German healthcare system can be aligned more closely to needs, made more efficient and the quality of service provision improved.
Procedure
Based on the experience of other OECD countries, a comparative literature review will identify which service areas are suitable for sectoral treatment and reimbursement. Subsequently, the status quo of sector-equivalent service provision will be surveyed and it will be investigated how comparable the patient groups in both sectors are in practice. A survey of service providers and health insurers will be used to determine how suitable the identified service areas are.
Funding
Innovation Committee of the Joint Federal Committee (Innovation Fund for the Promotion of Health Services Research (§§ 92a and 92b SGB V)
The Impact of Public Discourse on Health Care Utilization during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Background
To counteract potential long-term public health problems and better prepare for future pandemics, it is critical to develop effective public policy responses to pandemics. Estimating the effects of public discourse and measures taken during the current pandemic will be crucial to mitigate adverse effects on public health.
Objective
The primary objective of this study is to examine the relationship between public discourse on the COVID-19 pandemic and responses by the population considering policy measures taken to mitigate the pandemic, socioeconomic factors and political orientation. These responses include health care utilization and adherence to social distancing. This project is intended to provide essential lessons for public policy actors on how public policies are perceived by the population and to what extent they comply or respond to them.
Approach
The project focuses on a comparative analysis between England and Germany, as both countries are similar in many ways, but exhibit different policy responses and public discourses during the pandemic. An AI approach will be used to analyze newspaper and social media data in both countries while incorporating additional datasets. Modern analytic techniques will be used to examine the impact of public discourse, taking into account pandemic containment policies, socioeconomic factors, and political orientation, on health care utilization and adherence to social distancing.
Funding
German Research Foundation (DFG)
Cooperations and Projects in the Practice
There are currently no projects with practical cooperation.