[Recommendations for the Utilization of Claims Data During a Pandemic: Lessons Learned from the Project EgePan-Unimed of the Netzwerk Universitätsmedizin (NUM)]. / Potentiale von und Empfehlungen zur Nutzung von GKV Routinedaten in einer pandemischen Versorgungslage ­ Erfahrungen aus dem Projekt egePan-Unimed des Netzwerk Universitätsmedizin (NUM).

For appropriate response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and for obtaining answers to various relevant research questions, empirical data are required. Claims data of health insurances are a valid data source in such a situation. Within the project egePan-Unimed of the Netzwerk Universitätsmedizin (NUM) we investigated five COVID-19-related research questions using German claims data of statutory health insurances. We studied the prevalence and relevance of risk factors for a severe course of COVID-19, the background incidence of cerebral venous sinus thrombosis and myocarditis, the frequency and symptoms of post-COVID as well as the care of people with a psychiatric condition during the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on these cases, context-specific recommendations regarding the use of German claims data for future pandemics or other public health emergencies were derived, namely that the utilization of established and interdisciplinary project teams enables a timely project start and furthermore, meta-analytic methods are a valuable way to pool aggregated results of claims data analyses when data protection regulations do not allow a consolidation of data sets from different statutory health insurances. Under these circumstances, claims data are a readily available and valid data source of empirical evidence base necessary for public health measures during a pandemic.

[The role of university hospitals in regional health care management for coping with the COVID-19 pandemic]. / Die Rolle der Universitätskliniken im regionalen medizinischen Versorgungsmanagement zur Bewältigung der COVID-19 Pandemie.

INTRODUCTION: The complex and dynamic situation in the current pandemic requires a regionally coordinated and interconnected cooperation between the different stakeholders within the health care system, such as the inpatient sector or the public health service. The aim of this study is to analyze health care management during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 with a focus on regional networking and communication structures. METHODS: As part of the BMBF-funded project "egePan Unimed", an online questionnaire on pandemic management was sent to the boards of all 35 German university hospitals in November 2020. The questionnaire focused on the core topics of regional networking, crisis management, data exchange, and communication with political stakeholders. The questionnaire consisted of 37 closed and three open-ended questions. After piloting, the invitation to the survey was extended three times by mail and once by telephone. RESULTS: The results (n=25, response 71.4%) show that 68% of the clinics surveyed were connected to representatives from the inpatient sector and 86% to representatives from the public health service. Networking with representatives from the outpatient sector was less common (26%). Of the university hospitals surveyed, 84% had a leadership role in a regional COVID-19 pandemic management effort. Data exchange with regional hospitals in the course of pandemic management took place at 75% of the participating university hospitals and with supra-regional hospitals at 67% of the clinics surveyed. CONCLUSION: To manage regional medical care during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, university hospitals often assumed a coordinating role in the complex pandemic care process. There were often structured collaborations with regional clinics and health departments and comparatively few cooperations with the outpatient care sector. However, this cooperation has the potential to prevent overcrowding in hospitals.

[Characteristics of Innovation Fund-supported Intervention Studies: Review and Document Analysis of Study Protocols, Publications and Final Reports]. / Charakteristika von durch den Innovationsfonds geförderten Interventionsstudien: Review und Dokumentenanalyse von Studienprotokollen, Publikationen und Abschlussberichten.

This prospectively registered review characterizes 50 intervention studies from the 1st wave of the Innovation Fund based on study protocols or original articles, among other sources. The mainly (randomized) controlled intervention studies included predominantly adults/seniors in ambulatory care without a regional focus and analyzed treatment processes, clinical and patient outcomes as outcomes. The substantial lack of study protocols and methodological details (e. g., sample size planning) reveals (avoidable) methodological problems regarding the scientific quality of the funded studies.

Quality of life assessment in family members of patients with chronic wounds.

Familial caregivers are often directly involved in treatment of patients with chronic wounds, however, less is known about their personal impairment, and specific support is lacking for these important members of the therapeutic team regarding wound care. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of wound care provided by family members on their quality of life, and to create a suitable questionnaire to describe the affected personal aspects. A five-part questionnaire, named ELWA, was created by the authors and answered by 30 familial caregivers of 30 respective patients with chronic leg ulcers. One third of the caregivers reported receiving no medical advice about detailed wound care at all. A lack of information regarding details of the disease correlated with personal strain. Additional costs, anxiety, frustration, and reduced spare-time activities were among the top-rated factors affecting quality of life of family members. The results from this newly created questionnaire point out the needs of familial caregivers of patients with chronic wounds and may help to establish individual support. Implementation of clinical treatment strategies is planned through multicentre application.