Brandenburg congress on outcomes research looks to the future

Neuruppin, 19 November 2024

The Center for Outcomes Research (ZVF-BB) hosted the 5^th Brandenburg congress for outcomes research in Rüdersdorf on 11 and 12 November 2024, with over 75 participants. The focus was on healthcare provision and outcomes research in Brandenburg in the year 2030, and on the expectations, targets and challenges involved. Members of the Brandenburg Medical School Theodor Fontane (MHB) attended the event together with representatives from all over Brandenburg, such as scientists from the University of Potsdam and from the Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg.

MHB president Prof. Hans-Uwe Simon spoke words of greeting, followed by Dr. Thomas Götz, state secretary from the Brandenburg Ministry of Social Affairs MSGIV. The congress began with a key note by Prof. Dr. Christine Holmberg, MHB Institute of Social Medicine and Epidemiology. She described in detail how good healthcare provision should ideally look like in rural Brandenburg in 2030, and she compared the current situation with wishes and visions for the future. Her central theme was how to achieve the highest possible degree of patient orientation in healthcare provision.

Catrin Steiniger, chief executive of Brandenburg’s Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians, gave the second key note on the following day, with emphasis on outpatient care. Her visions for the future included the creation of regional health centers, the design and involvement of new health professions such as Physician Case Management Assistants, and generally more outpatient treatment in rural regions.

Participants submitted many interesting abstracts; 14 were selected and presented by their authors during the two-day event. Topics covered a broad range, but in their majority addressed the care situation in Brandenburg in the coming years. 35 posters were presented, some of them by students of the MHB Master’s course in outcomes research. The authors of the three best and most interesting posters (photo below) received cash prizes of 300, 200 and 100 € respectively. The winner was Susann May with a poster about a cross-sectional survey in the German-speaking area on the reticence of patients suffering from aphasia to undergo high-frequency speech therapy. Short breaks between lectures and poster sessions offered opportunity for personal exchange.

It has become a tradition to conclude the congress with a panel discussion. The focus this year was on the future care situation in Brandenburg in the year 2030 if nothing changes. Prof. Dr. Dawid Pieper acted as presenter. Participants were Catrin Steiniger (Brandenburg Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians), Prof. Dr. Edmund Neugebauer (MHB), Michael Zaske (MSGIV), Michael Jacob  from the regional hospital association and Heike Prestin as representative of nursing professionals. They agreed on what needs to change to achieve specific care objectives but not on how this can be done. A controversial aspect was the involvement of all relevant actors and stakeholders in political decision-making.

Prof. Dr. Dawid Pieper as congress organizer drew a very positive balance of the two-day meeting: “The congress did not answer all questions but offered important stimuli. We must give more attention to (rural) healthcare provision, tackle the problems involved and ensure interdisciplinary cooperation. We all want our research efforts to contribute to improved healthcare in Brandenburg, and we are looking forward to next year’s event.”