Research is the basis of efficient and high-quality patient care in general practice. In that, it is understood to be a combined effort from scientists, general practitioners and patients. Our interdisciplinary research team consists of, for example, psychologists, sports scientists, sociologists and doctors.

We are currently working in the field of health services research. Health services research is the scientific examination of the “reality” of healthcare provision for individuals as well as for the entire population.

Our focus lies in the analysis of medical overuse in the ambulatory care. Medical overuse is a term that designates unnecessary therapeutic and diagnostic measures. Such measures hold needless risks for the patients. As we see it, quaternary prevention, that is the avoidance of useless medicine, is the central task of a GP (to that, the article by Professor Thomas Kuehlein on the topic of “patient-oriented medicine: the art of omission” is worth reading).

In order to connect science and practice more efficiently, we have founded the network PRO PRICARE. PRO PRICARE stands for Preventing Overdiagnosis in PRImary CARE. Together with general practitioners, scientists of different fields, health insurances and the Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians Bavaria (KV Bayern) we work on the development and the practical implementation of measures to prevent medical overuse. PRO PRICARE is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) with 2.1 million euros. The main focus of our projects lies in:

• Strategies for focusing on useful medicine
• The role of doctor-patient-communication
• The identification of unnecessary medical procedures
• The economic efficiency when prescribing medication

Our research methods include qualitative studies through interviews and focus groups as well as questionnaire studies and the analysis of health insurance data.

If you are interested in our topics, want to discuss them with us or if you have own ideas and questions, please do not hesitate to contact our research coordinator Dr. phil. Susann Hueber.