Download PDF
CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Gesundheitswesen 2024; 86(S 04): S251-S258
DOI: 10.1055/a-2350-3857
Review

Organisational Health Services Research in Germany: A Scoping Review of Conference Abstracts

Article in several languages: English | deutsch
Stefan Nöst 
1   Baden-Württemberg Cooperative State University Stuttgart, School of Health Sciences and Management, Stuttgart, Germany
,
Felix Miedaner 
2   Ostfalia University of Applied Sciences, Campus Wolfsburg, Faculty of Health Care and Health Care Science, Wolfsburg, Germany
,
Wagner Anke 
3   University Hospital Tübingen, Institute of Occupational and Social Medicine and Health Services Research, Tübingen, Germany
,
Marina Beckmann 
4   University of Cologne, Institute of Medical Sociology, Health Services Research and Rehabilitation Science (IMVR), Cologne, Germany
,
Mark Exworthy 
5   University of Birmingham, Health Services Management Centre, Birmingham, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
,
Katja Götz 
6   University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Lübeck, Institute of Family Medicine, Lübeck, Germany
,
Mirjam Körner 
7   Bern University of Applied Sciences, School of Health Professions, Competence Center, Interprofessionalism, Bern, Switzerland
8   University of Freiburg, Institute of Medical Psychology and Medical Sociology, Freiburg, Germany
,
Russell Mannion 
5   University of Birmingham, Health Services Management Centre, Birmingham, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
,
Holger Pfaff 
9   University of Cologne, IMVR, Cologne, Germany
,
Alexandra Piotrowski 
10   Witten/Herdecke University, Institute of General Practice and Outpatient Healthcare, Witten, Germany
,
Antje Hammer 
11   University of Bonn, Institute for Patient Safety, Bonn, Germany
,
Lena Ansmann 
12   University of Cologne, Institute of Medical Sociology, Health Services Research and Rehabilitation Science (IMVR), Cologne, Germany
› Author Affiliations
› Further Information
Also available at
   Permissions and Reprints

Abstract

Background Health Services Research (HSR) is a growing field in Germany, in which Organisational Health Services Research (OHSR) has emerged as a subfield. The aim of this scoping review was to provide an overview of the field of OHSR within HSR in Germany and to map systematically original contributions by describing the organisational setting, the research design, the research objectives and the theoretical underpinning.

Methods A scoping review examined published abstracts from the 19th German Conference on Health Services Research 2020. Abstracts were included if (1) health care organisations, subunits or organisational processes were mentioned as research objects, and (2) if at least one out of five research perspectives from a recent German definition of OHSR was addressed. After intensive pilot screenings within a group of nine researchers, all abstracts were screened independently in three review teams with three researchers each, and data from included abstracts were extracted using content analysis based on a self-developed detailed coding scheme.

Results Out of n=468 identified abstracts in German (84%) or English (16%) language, n=138 (29.5%) abstracts were included. The majority of included abstracts addressed acute care in hospitals (34.8%), reported results from observational studies (59.4%) and collected primary data (69.6%). There was a slightly higher use of quantitative (32.6%) than qualitative (24.6%) research methods with a considerable number of studies using more than one method (31.9%). An explicit reference to theory was made in 7.2% and 17.4% used the term ‘organisation’ or related terms explicitly in their abstract.

Conclusion This review provides a systematic but preliminary overview of the scope to which HSR in Germany addresses OHSR. The organisational perspective is considered extensively in HSR abstracts, but mostly implicitly. The research is reported largely free of theory which can reduce their explanatory power. Therefore, a research agenda, more awareness as well as education and better conceptualisation of OHSR topics within German HSR are needed.

Keywords

Health Services Research - Organisation studies - Health Care - Organisational Behaviour in Health Care - Organisational Health Services Research

Supplementary Material

Zusätzliches Material



Publication History

Accepted Manuscript online:
21 June 2024

Article published online:
19 August 2024

© 2024. 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/).

Georg Thieme Verlag
Rüdigerstraße 14, 70469 Stuttgart, Germany

 

  • References

  • 1 Pfaff H, Ansmann L, Pförtner T-K. Versorgungsforschung – Beiträge der Medizinsoziologie in Vergangenheit und Gegenwart. In: Siegrist J, Stößel U, Trojan A, Hrsg. Medizinische Soziologie in Deutschland. Wiesbaden: Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden; 2022: 83-114
    Search in Google Scholar
  • 2 Pfaff H, Albert U-S, Bornemann R. et al. Methods for organisational health services research. Gesundheitswesen 2009; 71: 777-790
    Thieme ConnectPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 3 Ansmann L, Baumann W, Gostomzyk J. et al. DNVF-Memorandum III – Methods For Health Services Research, Part 4 – Concept and Methods For Organizational Health Services Research. Chapter 1 – Definition and Concept of Organizational Health Services Research. Gesundheitswesen 2019; 81: e64-e71
    Thieme ConnectPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 4 Rölker-Denker L, Kowalski C, Ansmann L. et al. DNVF-Memorandum III – Methods for Health Services Research, Part 4 – Concept and Methods for Organizational Health Services Research. Chapter 2 – Methodological Approaches for Organizational Health Services Research: Measures, Data Sources, Data Collection and Data Analysis. Gesundheitswesen 2019; 81: e72-e81
    Thieme ConnectPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 5 Wirtz MA, Bitzer EM, Albert U-S. et al. DNVF-Memorandum III – Methods for Health Services Research, Part 4 – Concept and Methods for Organizational Health Services Research. Chapter 3 – Methodological Approaches for the Evaluation and Implementation of Complex Interventions in Healthcare Organizations. Gesundheitswesen 2019; 81: e82-e91
    Thieme ConnectPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 6 Borkowski N. Organizational Behavior in Health Care. Jones & Bartlett Learning. 2016
    PubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 7 Körner M, Ansmann L, Schwarz B. et al. Hrsg. Organizational behaviour in healthcare. Zürich; LIT: 2018
    Search in Google Scholar
  • 8 Levac D, Colquhoun H, O’Brien KK. Scoping studies: advancing the methodology. Implementation Science 2010; 5
    CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 9 Peterson J, Pearce PF, Ferguson LA. et al. Understanding scoping reviews: Definition, purpose, and process. Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners 2017; 29: 12-16
    CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 10 Arksey H, O’Malley L. Scoping studies: towards a methodological framework. International Journal of Social Research Methodology 2005; 8: 19-32
    CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 11 Tricco AC, Lillie E, Zarin W. et al. PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR): Checklist and Explanation The PRISMA-ScR Statement. AIM 2018; 169: 467-473
    CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 12 The German Medical Science-Portal (GMS). Conference abstracts of the 19th German Congress on Health Services Research.
    PubMed
  • 13 Ouzzani M, Hammady H, Fedorowicz Z. et al. Rayyan – a web and mobile app for systematic reviews. Syst Rev 2016; 5: 1-10
    CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 14 Krippendorff K. Content analysis: An introduction to its methodology. Sage publications; 2018
    Search in Google Scholar
  • 15 Kieser A, Ebers M. Hrsg. Organisationstheorien. 8., erweiterte und aktualisierte Auflage. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer; 2019
    Search in Google Scholar
  • 16 Walgenbach P. Neoinstitutionalistische Ansätze in der Organisationstheorie. In: Kieser A, Ebers M, Hrsg. Organisationstheorien. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer; 2019: 300-350
    Search in Google Scholar
  • 17 Miebach B. Hrsg. Organisationstheorie. Wiesbaden: Springer Fachmedien; 2012
    CrossrefSearch in Google Scholar
  • 18 Scott WR, Davis GF. Organizations and organizing. International student edition, paperback. London; New York: Routledge; 2016
    Search in Google Scholar
  • 19 Reay T, Elizabeth, Goodrick,, Thomas, D’Aunno Health Care Research and Organization Theory. 1. Aufl. Cambridge University Press; 2021
    Search in Google Scholar
  • 20 Ullrich C, Queder A, Anders C. et al. Anwendung und Darstellung qualitativer Methoden in der Versorgungsforschung in Deutschland: ein Scoping Review zu Primärstudien (2010–2019). Zeitschrift für Evidenz, Fortbildung und Qualität im Gesundheitswesen 2022; 173: 75-84
    CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 21 Albert G. Erklären und Verstehen. In: Müller H-P, Sigmund S, Hrsg. Max Weber-Handbuch. Stuttgart: J.B. Metzler; 2020: 64-66
    Search in Google Scholar
  • 22 Pfaff H, Schmitt J. Reducing uncertainty in evidence-based health policy by integrating empirical and theoretical evidence: An EbM+theory approach. Evaluation Clinical Practice 2023; jep 13890
    CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 23 Tacke V. Systemtheorie der Organisation. Niklas Luhmann. In: Das Politische System der Europäischen Union. Wiesbaden: Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden; 2019: 1-22
    Search in Google Scholar
  • 24 Cyert RM, March JG. A behavioral theory of the firm. 2. ed., [Nachdr.]. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing; 2006
    Search in Google Scholar
  • 25 Scott WR. Institutions and organizations: ideas, interests, and identities. Fourth edition. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications, Inc; 2013
    Search in Google Scholar
  • 26 Weick KE. The social psychology of organizing. 2. ed. New York: Mc Graw-Hill; 2006
    Search in Google Scholar
  • 27 DiMaggio PJ, Powell WW. The Iron Cage Revisited: Institutional Isomorphism and Collective Rationality in Organizational Fields. American Sociological Review 1983; 48: 147-160
    CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar