Navigating the Future of Organisational Health Services Research in Germany and beyond: a Position Paper

Lena Ansmann; Stefan Nöst; Mirjam Körner; Carolin Auschra; Roland Bal; Marina Böddeker; Ingo Bode; Jeffrey Braithwaite; Clara Breidenbach; Marie Coors; Ibrahim Demirer; Mark Exworthy; Lorenz Harst; Christian Heuser; Julia Hoffmann; Juliane Köberlein-Neu; Karl Krajic; Gregory Maniatopoulos; Russell Mannion; Ralph Möhler; Holger Pfaff; Monika A Rieger; Esther Rind; M A Helge Schnack; M A Anke Wagner; Matthias Weigl; Michel Wensing; Siri Wiig; Eva Wild; Hendrik Wilhelm; Markus Wirtz; Katja Götz

doi:10.1055/a-2308-7384

Navigating the Future of Organisational Health Services Research in Germany and beyond: a Position Paper

Lena Ansmann
, Stefan Nöst
, Mirjam Körner
, Carolin Auschra
, Roland Bal
, Marina Böddeker
, Ingo Bode
, Jeffrey Braithwaite
, Clara Breidenbach
, Marie Coors
, Ibrahim Demirer
, Mark Exworthy
, Lorenz Harst
, Christian Heuser
, Julia Hoffmann
, Juliane Köberlein-Neu
, Karl Krajic
, Gregory Maniatopoulos
, Russell Mannion
, Ralph Möhler

Holger Pfaff, Monika A Rieger, Esther Rind, M A Helge Schnack, M A Anke Wagner, Matthias Weigl, Michel Wensing, Siri Wiig, Eva Wild, Hendrik Wilhelm, Markus Wirtz, Katja Götz

Department of Sociology

Publications: Contribution to journal › Article › Peer Reviewed

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Recent analyses have shown that in health services research in Germany, healthcare organisations are often considered primarily as a study setting, without fully taking their complex organisational nature into account, neither theoretically nor methodologically. Therefore, an initiative was launched to analyse the state of Organisational Health Services Research (OHSR) in Germany and to develop a strategic framework and road map to guide future efforts in the field. This paper summarizes positions that have been jointly developed by consulting experts from the interdisciplinary and international scientific community.

METHODS: In July 2023, a scoping workshop over the course of three days was held with 32 (inter)national experts from different research fields centred around OHSR topics using interactive workshop methods. Participants discussed their perspectives on OHSR, analysed current challenges in OHSR in Germany and developed key positions for the field's development.

RESULTS: The seven agreed-upon key positions addressed conceptual and strategic aspects. There was consensus that the field required the development of a research agenda that can guide future efforts. On a conceptual level, the need to address challenges in terms of interdisciplinarity, terminology, organisation(s) as research subjects, international comparative research and utilisation of organisational theory was recognized. On a strategic level, requirements with regard to teaching, promotion of interdisciplinary and international collaboration, suitable funding opportunities and participatory research were identified.

CONCLUSIONS: This position paper seeks to serve as a framework to support further development of OHSR in Germany and as a guide for researchers and funding organisations on how to move OHSR forward. Some of the challenges discussed for German OHSR are equally present in other countries. Thus, this position paper can be used to initiate fruitful discussions in other countries.

Original language	German
Pages (from-to)	S259-S266
Number of pages	7
Journal	Das Gesundheitswesen
Volume	86
Issue number	S 04
Early online date	22 Jul 2024
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1055/a-2308-7384
Publication status	Published - 1 Sept 2024

Funding

Fordermittel Volkswagen Foundation - http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100001663; 9C547 Danksagung Das Positionspapier ist das Ergebnis einer langjahrigen Zusammenarbeit zwischen der DGMS und dem DNVF. Wir danken Malin Pluschke, Theresa Hensel und Marvin Schmitt fur ihre Unterstutzung bei der Vorbereitung und Durchfuhrung des Workshops. Vielen Dank an Susan Lee fur das Lektorat in englischer Sprache. In Germany, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), the Federal Ministry of Health (BMG) \u2013 including the Innovation Fund - and the German Research Foundation (DFG) are the main funding institutions that HSR can exploit. Although funding opportunities for HSR in Germany have clearly increased over the last decade, it is oftentimes challenging to acquire funding for OHSR research that is not necessarily of a highly applied nature. Fundamental OHSR is essential to better understand the complexities and realities of healthcare organisations. It follows that explicit funding calls for OHSR are desired, particularly funding opportunities that go beyond the three-year corridor, as this timeframe is largely insufficient when trying to understand complex organisational change processes . Besides funding opportunities for individual OHSR projects, funding programmes bringing together interdisciplinary and international networks as well as connecting researchers from traditional universities and universities of applied sciences (such as the scoping workshop format by Volkswagen Foundation) can be highly effective formats that fields such as OHSR require for fruitful development. Funding formats like these have the potential to build capacity for larger joint applications on OHSR with an interdisciplinary and international character. As indicated above, it is vital that funding institutions become more open to truly interdisciplinary research, since, in our experience, a highly interdisciplinary project idea often has a lower chance of approval due to widespread mono-disciplinary thinking and reviewing. Furthermore, to promote academic careers in OHSR, funding formats for early-career researchers are crucial. Public and patient involvement (PPI) and particularly co-design of complex interventions is essential in many OHSR studies . Funding institutions increasingly expect applicants to include strategies for PPI. Besides the involvement of patients, relatives and the public, OHSR often requires the involvement of other stakeholders in healthcare organisations (e.\u2009g., healthcare professionals, managers), especially when research deals with organisational change. Thus, funding institutions should broaden their definition of PPI. OHSR researchers should also make use of the potential of PPI by systematically planning and conducting PPI when it is relevant for the research aim. In Germany, HSR has emerged as a rapidly growing interdisciplinary field, first established as a subfield within the broader health sciences in the late 1990s. Over the past decade, HSR has increasingly gained recognition as a critical pillar of health research in Germany, striving to enhance the understanding and improvement of routine healthcare practices. The significance of organisations in HSR was acknowledged early on in the field\u02BCs development in Germany. The working group \u2018Organisational Health Services Research\u2019 was established as one of the first working groups within the German Network Health Services Research (DNVF). In 2009, the working group published the first consensus paper (\u2018Memorandum\u2019) on the conceptual and methodological foundations of organisational health services research (OHSR) . A more elaborated consensus paper, comprising three parts, was published ten years later in 2019 . To further promote OHSR in Germany, a scientific network initiative entitled \u2018Network on Organisational Behaviour in Healthcare\u2019 was funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) between 2014 and 2018. In the resulting book publication, researchers from Germany contributed 15 chapters with original work covering various OHSR themes, such as work organisation, leadership and patient safety, interprofessional teamwork, promotion of hand hygiene in hospitals and integrated care networks . The origins of the network can be traced back to the \u2018Health Services Research\u2019 working group founded in 2004 within the German Society of Medical Sociology (DGMS). The scoping workshop was funded by the Volkswagen Foundation and took place at Schloss Herrenhausen, Hanover, Germany, in July 2023. Over the course of three days, 32 (inter)national experts discussed the current state of OHSR in Germany and its potential for development. To build bridges to neighboring and parent disciplines, experts from various research fields were invited in addition to health services researchers (e.\u2009g., sociology of health and medicine, implementation science, nursing science, occupational health, public health, organisational sociology, psychology, economics and management, health policy). In addition to participants from Germany, experts from Australia, Norway, UK, Austria and the Netherlands attended the workshop. displays the topics and interactive formats applied in the workshop.

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being

Austrian Fields of Science 2012

303026 Public health
303016 Hospital management
504020 Medical sociology
509011 Organisational development

Keywords

Germany
Health Services Research/trends
Forecasting
Organizational Objectives
health services research
organisational behaviour
international network
organisational research
Healthcare organizations
interdisciplinary

Access to Document

10.1055/a-2308-7384Licence: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Cite this

Ansmann, L., Nöst, S., Körner, M., Auschra, C., Bal, R., Böddeker, M., Bode, I., Braithwaite, J., Breidenbach, C., Coors, M., Demirer, I., Exworthy, M., Harst, L., Heuser, C., Hoffmann, J., Köberlein-Neu, J., Krajic, K., Maniatopoulos, G., Mannion, R., ... Götz, K. (2024). Navigating the Future of Organisational Health Services Research in Germany and beyond: a Position Paper. Das Gesundheitswesen, 86(S 04), S259-S266. https://doi.org/10.1055/a-2308-7384

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abstract = " Background Recent analyses have shown that in health services research in Germany, healthcare organisations are often considered primarily as a study setting, without fully taking their complex organisational nature into account, neither theoretically nor methodologically. Therefore, an initiative was launched to analyse the state of Organisational Health Services Research (OHSR) in Germany and to develop a strategic framework and road map to guide future efforts in the field. This paper summarizes positions that have been jointly developed by consulting experts from the interdisciplinary and international scientific community. Methods In July 2023, a scoping workshop over the course of three days was held with 32 (inter)national experts from different research fields centred around OHSR topics using interactive workshop methods. Participants discussed their perspectives on OHSR, analysed current challenges in OHSR in Germany and developed key positions for the field{\textquoteright}s development. Results The seven agreed-upon key positions addressed conceptual and strategic aspects. There was consensus that the field required the development of a research agenda that can guide future efforts. On a conceptual level, the need to address challenges in terms of interdisciplinarity, terminology, organisation(s) as research subjects, international comparative research and utilisation of organisational theory was recognized. On a strategic level, requirements with regard to teaching, promotion of interdisciplinary and international collaboration, suitable funding opportunities and participatory research were identified. Conclusions This position paper seeks to serve as a framework to support further development of OHSR in Germany and as a guide for researchers and funding organisations on how to move OHSR forward. Some of the challenges discussed for German OHSR are equally present in other countries. Thus, this position paper can be used to initiate fruitful discussions in other countries.",

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author = "Lena Ansmann and Stefan N{\"o}st and Mirjam K{\"o}rner and Carolin Auschra and Roland Bal and Marina B{\"o}ddeker and Ingo Bode and Jeffrey Braithwaite and Clara Breidenbach and Marie Coors and Ibrahim Demirer and Mark Exworthy and Lorenz Harst and Christian Heuser and Julia Hoffmann and Juliane K{\"o}berlein-Neu and Karl Krajic and Gregory Maniatopoulos and Russell Mannion and Ralph M{\"o}hler and Holger Pfaff and Rieger, \{Monika A\} and Esther Rind and \{Helge Schnack\}, \{M A\} and \{Anke Wagner\}, \{M A\} and Matthias Weigl and Michel Wensing and Siri Wiig and Eva Wild and Hendrik Wilhelm and Markus Wirtz and Katja G{\"o}tz",

note = "Publisher Copyright: The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial-License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/",

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Ansmann, L, Nöst, S, Körner, M, Auschra, C, Bal, R, Böddeker, M, Bode, I, Braithwaite, J, Breidenbach, C, Coors, M, Demirer, I, Exworthy, M, Harst, L, Heuser, C, Hoffmann, J, Köberlein-Neu, J, Krajic, K, Maniatopoulos, G, Mannion, R, Möhler, R, Pfaff, H, Rieger, MA, Rind, E, Helge Schnack, MA, Anke Wagner, MA, Weigl, M, Wensing, M, Wiig, S, Wild, E, Wilhelm, H, Wirtz, M & Götz, K 2024, 'Navigating the Future of Organisational Health Services Research in Germany and beyond: a Position Paper', Das Gesundheitswesen, vol. 86, no. S 04, pp. S259-S266. https://doi.org/10.1055/a-2308-7384

TY - JOUR

T1 - Navigating the Future of Organisational Health Services Research in Germany and beyond

T2 - a Position Paper

AU - Ansmann, Lena

AU - Nöst, Stefan

AU - Körner, Mirjam

AU - Auschra, Carolin

AU - Bal, Roland

AU - Böddeker, Marina

AU - Bode, Ingo

AU - Braithwaite, Jeffrey

AU - Breidenbach, Clara

AU - Coors, Marie

AU - Demirer, Ibrahim

AU - Exworthy, Mark

AU - Harst, Lorenz

AU - Heuser, Christian

AU - Hoffmann, Julia

AU - Köberlein-Neu, Juliane

AU - Krajic, Karl

AU - Maniatopoulos, Gregory

AU - Mannion, Russell

AU - Möhler, Ralph

AU - Pfaff, Holger

AU - Rieger, Monika A

AU - Rind, Esther

AU - Helge Schnack, M A

AU - Anke Wagner, M A

AU - Weigl, Matthias

AU - Wensing, Michel

AU - Wiig, Siri

AU - Wild, Eva

AU - Wilhelm, Hendrik

AU - Wirtz, Markus

AU - Götz, Katja

N1 - Publisher Copyright: The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial-License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

PY - 2024/9/1

Y1 - 2024/9/1

N2 - Background Recent analyses have shown that in health services research in Germany, healthcare organisations are often considered primarily as a study setting, without fully taking their complex organisational nature into account, neither theoretically nor methodologically. Therefore, an initiative was launched to analyse the state of Organisational Health Services Research (OHSR) in Germany and to develop a strategic framework and road map to guide future efforts in the field. This paper summarizes positions that have been jointly developed by consulting experts from the interdisciplinary and international scientific community. Methods In July 2023, a scoping workshop over the course of three days was held with 32 (inter)national experts from different research fields centred around OHSR topics using interactive workshop methods. Participants discussed their perspectives on OHSR, analysed current challenges in OHSR in Germany and developed key positions for the field’s development. Results The seven agreed-upon key positions addressed conceptual and strategic aspects. There was consensus that the field required the development of a research agenda that can guide future efforts. On a conceptual level, the need to address challenges in terms of interdisciplinarity, terminology, organisation(s) as research subjects, international comparative research and utilisation of organisational theory was recognized. On a strategic level, requirements with regard to teaching, promotion of interdisciplinary and international collaboration, suitable funding opportunities and participatory research were identified. Conclusions This position paper seeks to serve as a framework to support further development of OHSR in Germany and as a guide for researchers and funding organisations on how to move OHSR forward. Some of the challenges discussed for German OHSR are equally present in other countries. Thus, this position paper can be used to initiate fruitful discussions in other countries.

AB - Background Recent analyses have shown that in health services research in Germany, healthcare organisations are often considered primarily as a study setting, without fully taking their complex organisational nature into account, neither theoretically nor methodologically. Therefore, an initiative was launched to analyse the state of Organisational Health Services Research (OHSR) in Germany and to develop a strategic framework and road map to guide future efforts in the field. This paper summarizes positions that have been jointly developed by consulting experts from the interdisciplinary and international scientific community. Methods In July 2023, a scoping workshop over the course of three days was held with 32 (inter)national experts from different research fields centred around OHSR topics using interactive workshop methods. Participants discussed their perspectives on OHSR, analysed current challenges in OHSR in Germany and developed key positions for the field’s development. Results The seven agreed-upon key positions addressed conceptual and strategic aspects. There was consensus that the field required the development of a research agenda that can guide future efforts. On a conceptual level, the need to address challenges in terms of interdisciplinarity, terminology, organisation(s) as research subjects, international comparative research and utilisation of organisational theory was recognized. On a strategic level, requirements with regard to teaching, promotion of interdisciplinary and international collaboration, suitable funding opportunities and participatory research were identified. Conclusions This position paper seeks to serve as a framework to support further development of OHSR in Germany and as a guide for researchers and funding organisations on how to move OHSR forward. Some of the challenges discussed for German OHSR are equally present in other countries. Thus, this position paper can be used to initiate fruitful discussions in other countries.

KW - Germany

KW - Health Services Research/trends

KW - Forecasting

KW - Organizational Objectives

KW - health services research

KW - organisational behaviour

KW - international network

KW - organisational research

KW - Healthcare organizations

KW - interdisciplinary

KW - Gesundheitssystem

KW - Organisationsforschung

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U2 - 10.1055/a-2308-7384

DO - 10.1055/a-2308-7384

M3 - Artikel

C2 - 39038484

SN - 0941-3790

VL - 86

SP - S259-S266

JO - Das Gesundheitswesen

JF - Das Gesundheitswesen

IS - S 04

ER -

Navigating the Future of Organisational Health Services Research in Germany and beyond: a Position Paper

Abstract

Funding

UN SDGs

Austrian Fields of Science 2012

Keywords

Access to Document

Other files and links

Erratum: Navigating the Future of Organisational Health Services Research in Germany and beyond: a Position Paper

Cite this

Navigating the Future of Organisational Health Services Research in Germany and beyond: a Position Paper

Abstract

Funding

UN SDGs

Austrian Fields of Science 2012

Keywords

Access to Document

Other files and links

Research output

Erratum: Navigating the Future of Organisational Health Services Research in Germany and beyond: a Position Paper

Cite this