Smartphone-assisted training with education for patients with hip and/or knee osteoarthritis (SmArt-E): study protocol for a multicentre pragmatic randomized controlled trial.

Introduction: Hip and knee osteoarthritis are associated with functional limitations, pain and restrictions in quality of life and the ability to work. Furthermore, with growing prevalence, osteoarthritis is increasingly causing (in)direct costs. Guidelines recommend exercise therapy and education as primary treatment strategies.

Data linkage of German statutory health insurance claims data and care needs assessments preceding a population-based cohort study on nursing home admission.

Objectives: We perform and evaluate record linkage of German Care Needs Assessment (CNA) data to Statutory Health Insurance (SHI) claims data. The resulting dataset should enable the identification of factors in healthcare predicting the time between the onset of long-term care dependency and the admission to a nursing home in Germany in subsequent analyses.

Design: A deterministic record linkage was conducted using the key variables region, sex, date of birth and care level.

The influence of primary care quality on nursing home admissions in a multimorbid population with and without dementia in Germany: a retrospective cohort study using health insurance claims data.

Background: Multimorbidity poses a challenge for high quality primary care provision for nursing care-dependent people with (PWD) and without (PWOD) dementia. Evidence on the association of primary care quality of multimorbid PWD and PWOD with the event of a nursing home admission (NHA) is missing. This study aimed to investigate the contribution of individual quality of primary care for chronic diseases in multimorbid care-dependent PWD and PWOD on the duration of ongoing residence at home before the occurrence of NHA.

Exercise-Based Cardiac Rehabilitation: Secondary Data Analyses of Mortality and Working Capacity in Germany, 2010-2017.

Background: Exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation is safe and implemented in international cardiac rehabilitation guidelines. Evidence for long-term health effects is scarce and rare for health care service research.

Objective: The aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of exercise-based phase III cardiac rehabilitation programs in improving mortality and working capacity outcomes.

[Predictors of Admission to Nursing Home in Care-Dependent People - A Longitudinal Secondary Data Analysis].

Objective: To determine predictors of admission to nursing home by means of secondary data analysis of German statutory health insurance claims data and care needs assessments.

Materials And Methods: A retrospective longitudinal analysis was conducted covering the period 2006-2016 and using routine data. Health insurance data and care needs assessment data for people who became care dependent in 2006 and who lived in their own homes were merged.

Differences in nursing home admission between functionally defined populations in Germany and the association with quality of health care.

Background: People prefer to age in place and not move into a nursing home as long as possible. The prevention of cognitive and functional impairments is feasible to support this goal. Health services play a key role in providing support for underlying medical conditions.

Good Practice Data Linkage (GPD): A Translation of the German Version.

The data linkage of different data sources for research purposes is being increasingly used in recent years. However, generally accepted methodological guidance is missing. The aim of this article is to provide methodological guidelines and recommendations for research projects that have been consented to across different German research societies.

[Quality of ambulatory medical care in the context of age and care-dependency: Results of a cross-sectional analysis of German health claims data].

Background And Aim: Care-dependent community dwelling people are vulnerable to deficits in medical care provided by the German statutory health insurance (GKV). Quality of care indicators (QIs) contribute to the identification of deficits and of potential for the optimization of care. To investigate the discriminatory ability of QIs in a population of elderly people with and without care dependency and different age structures, insights into the feasibility of such QIs based on health claims data are of interest.

[Influencing factors for nursing home admission in case of pre-existing need of care - a systematic review].

Introduction: Knowledge about predictors of nursing home placement is highly relevant. If they are known, targeted interventions such as counselling can help prevent or delay relocation to a nursing home. Above all, preventive and structural measures can target influenceable predictors.

[Good Practice Data Linkage].

Individual data linkage of different data sources for research purposes is being increasingly used in Germany in recent years. However, generally accepted methodological guidance is missing. The aim of this article is to define such methodological standards for research projects.

[A systematic review on population-based indicators of the quality of care in formal and informal provider networks and their application in health economic evaluations].

Background: Provider networks in healthcare can emerge as either formal or informal networks. For sector-encompassing population-based quality measurement in informal networks, which allows for conclusions about the cost-effectiveness of care for home-dwelling persons in need of care, a comprehensive review on suitable quality indicators that can be derived from German social health insurance claims data is still lacking.

Objective: Primary review questions: Which population-based indicators of quality of care in formal and informal provider networks are described in the international literature? Which of these indicators are used as outcome parameters in health economic evaluations, and what are the methodological approaches in these evaluations? Rating approaches and methods for establishing thresholds as well as the validity and suitability of quality indicators to predict quality of care as well as the potential for the calculation of quality indicators based on German social health insurance claims data are included in the secondary review questions.

[Appropriateness of physiotherapy care in Germany: a scoping review].

Background: Physiotherapy is applied for various indications in practices, hospitals and rehabilitation facilities and should be delivered according to the patients' needs. Empirical knowledge on the appropriateness of physiotherapy care in Germany is scarce. This scoping review aims to give an overview over the evidence base, to describe the results of previous studies and to evaluate the appropriateness of physiotherapy care.

[Impact of quality measurement, transparency and peer review on in-hospital mortality - retrospective before-after study with 63 hospitals].

Background: In 2008 the 'Initiative Qualitätsmedizin' (initiative for quality in medical care, IQM) was established as a voluntary non-profit association of hospital providers of all kinds of ownership. Currently, about 350 hospitals from Germany and Switzerland participate in IQM. Member hospitals are committed to a quality strategy based on measuring outcome indicators using administrative data, peer review procedures to improve medical quality, and transparency by public reporting.

How does age affect the care dependency risk one year after stroke? A study based on claims data from a German health insurance fund.

Background: The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of age on care dependency risk 1 year after stroke. Two research questions are addressed: (1) How strong is the association between age and care dependency risk 1 year after stroke and (2) can this association be explained by burden of disease?

Methods: The study is based on claims data from a German statutory health insurance fund. The study population was drawn from all continuously insured members with principal diagnoses of ischaemic stroke, hemorrhagic stroke, or transient ischaemic attack in 2007 who survived for 1 year after stroke and who were not dependent on care before their first stroke (n = 2864).

Achieving minimum caseload requirements--an analysis of hospital discharge data from 2005-2011.

Background: The German Federal Joint Committee (the highest decision-making body of physicians and health insurance funds in Germany) has established minimum caseload requirements with the goal of improving patient care. Such requirements have been in place for five types of surgical procedure since 2004 and were introduced for total knee endoprosthesis surgery in 2006 and for the care of low-birth-weight neonates (weighing less than 1250 g) in 2010.

Method: We analyzed data from German nationwide DRG statistics (DRG = diagnosis-related groups) for the years 2005-2011.