Health Foundation

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Health Foundation
legal form Foundation, endowment
founding 1996
founder Unknown
Seat Hamburg
purpose Healthcare Transparency
Chair Peter Müller (Board of Directors),
Norbert Klusen (Board of Trustees)
Website www.stiftung-gesundheit.de

The Health Foundation is a non-profit, legal foundation under civil law. It was established in 1996 by the so-called "foundation business" of the responsible interior ministry. At the end of 2004 it moved its headquarters from Kiel to Hamburg . The donor not named was a resident doctor from Northern Germany. In the course of time, other doctors and sponsors have supported the work of the foundation through collaboration and private donations. The Health Foundation does not receive any public funding and, according to its own statements, is independent of the government, parties, industry, associations and ideological groups.

The foundation operates nationwide. The committee members and foundation councils (advisory boards) are appointed from all over Germany.

Articles of Association

The statutory task is to promote transparency in the health system and to offer practical guidance to the broadest possible audience, in particular through:

  • Establishment and maintenance of a medical register, the so-called "doctor information". This should make it easy for everyone to find doctors, dentists, psychological psychotherapists, clinics, rehabilitation clinics, chief physicians or emergency practices with the specializations they are looking for in their region by telephone or via the Internet.
  • The foundation examines publications that inform the respective target group in a qualified manner about health-related topics and contexts and are suitable for creating transparency and security for patients. The work must outline the essential approaches, concepts or forms of therapy including their problems, limits and risks and must not uncritically emphasize individual methods.
  • Appreciation of especially popular scientific works as well as other journalistic achievements that show the connections in medicine and health in an outstanding way. To do this, they must demonstrate the highest level of both medical-technical and didactic-journalistic competence.

Other fields of activity

Doctor information

The doctor's information was brought into being in 1997 by the foundation. The aim is to collect all resident doctors and dentists including private practitioners as well as affiliated doctors , chief physicians and clinics (rehabilitation and dental clinics), psychological psychotherapists , emergency facilities and self-help groups in a database . A more complex version, the doctor information professional, is made available in particular to health insurers and research institutions.

The underlying directory of medical care is used for a wide range of analyzes in health services research:

In September 2018, the Federal Joint Committee (G-BA) published the report on the further development of requirements planning in the Federal Republic of Germany based on the work of the research group led by Prof. Dr. Leonie Sundmacher, Department of Health Services Management at the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich. The database, particularly with regard to accessibility in medical care, is the database of the Doctor Information Professional of the Health Foundation.

The research project Sustain from the EU program Horizon 2020 was completed in 2019. Under the leadership of the Free University of Amsterdam, research institutions from eight EU countries developed a “toolbox” for integrated care . As the institution from Germany, the Stiftung Gesundheit Fördergemeinschaft contributed to the research project.

The Association of Private Health Insurance (PKV-Verband) published the regional atlas in 2019. An anonymous snapshot of the spatial and professional distribution of doctors and medical care options based on the Doctor Information Professional was used as the data basis.

Journalism Prize

The journalism prize has been awarded annually by the foundation since 1998. The award applies to contributions that convey health knowledge in an understandable way for laypeople and clearly illustrate the context. To do this, the authors must demonstrate medical and journalistic skills. The prize is endowed with 2,500 euros annually.

Quality check / certification of health-related publications

The third purpose of the statutes is the quality check of health-related information materials. In the years following the establishment of the foundation, this applied to print products, books and brochures. During the first decade of the 2000s this service for journalistic offers in digital media was further developed. The review process includes journalistic categories, including the integration of DISCERN, legal requirements, data protection aspects and transparency of authorship. Independent reviewers - journalists, lawyers, IT experts, medical professionals - analyze the website under more than 100 criteria. It is checked, for example, whether the content is factual, the website is understandable for the respective target group, the content is appropriately dimensioned and the texts have been carefully prepared in terms of journalism. In addition, criteria such as legal security and technical issues such as web accessibility are checked. If the examination is successful, the publications receive the certification seal. The seal is valid for print products for the respective edition, for digital offers for one year. Technical examinations also take place, but the foundation does not intervene in the sometimes intense disputes over doctrinal opinions. The foundation sums up the maxims under the keywords “variety of methods”, “method transparency” and “method critique”.

Publications

Medical Climate Index

The Foundation collects the Medical Climate Index (MKI) twice a year together with the Society for Health Market Analysis (GGMA). This index is intended to make the basic economic mood of the doctors and dentists established in Germany measurable. It is calculated according to the assessment that doctors and dentists have about their current economic situation and the prospects for the next six months.

Study series

Every year the foundation publishes the study Doctors in the future market of health . Doctors and dentists in private practice are interviewed in an online survey on topics that may play a role for their profession in Germany now or in the future - such as working hours, practice marketing or new forms of cooperation. The data collection and analysis is carried out by the Society for Health Market Analysis (GGMA).

Funding community

Due to its legal form, a foundation generally does not offer “membership” like an association . Because a foundation is legally determined by the foundation capital and the "foundation business", the establishment of the corporation, by the foundation supervision of the interior ministry of the respective federal state. In order to be able to offer sponsors an active membership, the Stiftung Gesundheit Fördergemeinschaft eV was set up. As a registered association, the association is constituted by its members. According to the statutes, the association supports the foundation in the implementation of its tasks.

Medical law advisory network

In 2000, the funding association initiated the "Medical Law Advisory Network" in cooperation with the University of Kiel as a pilot project. For one year, the need, the modes of use and the satisfaction of the results of the citizens with the offer of free medical and social law advice were evaluated.

Following the pilot project and the evaluation, the Association of Medical Lawyers took over the nationwide expansion of this service as a regular operation. The service is a free legal orientation talk / advice on questions of medical law and social law in the areas of health and long-term care insurance for citizens. There are bases at around 200 locations. Until 15 years after the transfer of the project to the medical lawyers eV, the Stiftung Gesundheit Fördergemeinschaft in coordination with the Stiftung Gesundheit reserved the quality assurance of the offer. In 2016, the service was completely transferred to Medizinrechtsanwälte eV.

Project barrier-free practice

Over the years, associations and those affected have turned to the foundation several times and pointed out that medical care in Germany for people with disabilities is inadequate because many medical practices for the disabled are not accessible or not equipped. The foundation itself had not listed this topic as one of the purposes of the statutes and was therefore not allowed to work there itself. After examinations and surveys in this field, the funding association was able to expand its statutes accordingly with an absolute majority in the membership decision and was thus allowed to act there. Since then, the support group has borne the costs of the "Barrier-free Practice" project. The respective precautions for accessibility for people with mild and severe mobility impairments, including hearing and visual impairments, are periodically collected from all medical practices in Germany in detail. The results in detail are made available to the general public free of charge as additional information from the doctor information (arzt-auskunft.de).

Bodies

  • Peter Müller , Chairman of the Board of Management
  • Stefanie Woerns, board member
  • Norbert Klusen , Chairman of the Board of Trustees
  • Dirk A. Loose, Chairman of the Board of Trustees

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The bodies: Board of Trustees and Board of Directors. In: stiftung-gesundheit.de. Retrieved July 26, 2020 .
  2. ↑ Norbert Klusen new chairman of the board of trustees | Health Foundation - Knowledge is the best medicine. Retrieved on February 24, 2019 (German).
  3. ↑ Woerns confirmed on board | Health Foundation - Knowledge is the best medicine. Retrieved on February 24, 2019 (German).
  4. ↑ Prof. Dr. Norbert Klusen succeeds Prof. Dr. Dr. Peter Oberender Communication from the Health Foundation of August 24, 2015, accessed on August 26, 2015
  5. ↑ Norbert Klusen new chairman of the board of trustees | Health Foundation - Knowledge is the best medicine. Retrieved on February 24, 2019 (German).