Health Services Research from the Perspective of a Statutory Health Insurance

Statutory health insurances' claims data are increasingly used for health services research. In this article we describe the development and the realisation of joint research projects in cooperation with external scientific institutions from the perspective of a statutory health insurance. Primarily, the scientific content of the study has to be defined. What is the aim of the study? What research questions are to be studied using which methods? How can the insured benefit from the project in question? Furthermore, practical, data protection and legal issues have to be settled in order to reach a cooperation agreement which is necessary for project realisation. In our view the involvement of statutory health insurances early in the project developement process is highly desirable. With this contribution we hope to enhance scientists' understanding for the needs of statutory health insurances and to promote the development of joint research projects.