Doktorand:innen im DFG-Graduiertenkolleg "Managerial and Economic Dimensions of Health Care Quality" (12 Stellen) § 28 Abs. 3 HmbHG

Universität Hamburg

Doktorand:innen im DFG‑Graduiertenkolleg „Managerial and Economic Dimensions of Health Care Quality“ (12 Stellen) § 28 Abs. 3 HmbHG

Im Rahmen des DFG-Graduiertenkollegs erforschen wir Ursache-Wirkungs-Beziehungen, um die Steuerung von Qualität in der Gesundheitsversorgung zu ermöglichen. Dazu arbeiten wir interdisziplinär mit betriebs- und volkswirtschaftlichem bzw. medizinischem Hintergrund, kombinieren theoretische, ökonometrische und experimentelle Methoden und bringen die unterschiedlichen Perspektiven unserer drei Disziplinen zusammen. Das strukturierte Promotionsprogramm des Graduiertenkollegs besteht aus sieben methodischen, auf die Bedürfnisse der Gesundheitsökonomie ausgerichteten Kursen (drei Pflichtkurse, zwei methodische Wahlkurse, zwei Wahlkurse zur Spezialisierung). Zusätzlich bieten wir Kurse zur Verwendung von Statistiksoftware und zur Projekt- und Arbeitsorganisation an. Die Ausbildung wird ergänzt durch Teilnahme an Forschungsseminaren und Workshops. Wir haben eine etablierte, kontinuierliche Feedbackkultur, die auch externes Feedback über internationale Konferenzen, Gastwissenschaftler:innen und Auslandsaufenthalte beinhaltet. Nähere Informationen zum wissenschaftlichen Programm, zum strukturierten Promotionsprogramm und zu den beteiligten Professor:innen des Graduiertenkollegs finden Sie auf unserer Webseite. Das Graduiertenkolleg erfolgt in Kooperation mit dem Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE). 8 Stellen werden von der Universität Hamburg (University of Hamburg Business School und Fakultät für Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaften) besetzt, 4 Stellen sind am UKE beheimatet.

Ihre Aufgaben

Wissenschaftliche Weiterqualifikation im Rahmen eines strukturierten Promotionsprogramms. Die Doktorand:innen durchlaufen das strukturierte Qualifikationsprogramm des Graduiertenkollegs und fertigen eine Dissertation mit betriebs- oder volkswirtschaftlicher Ausrichtung (Oberthema: Qualität der Gesundheitsversorgung) zu einem der nachfolgenden Themen (in Klammern First Supervisor) an: 1. Adoption of new technologies in the long-term care market (Prof. Dr. Iris Kesternich) The PhD project studies the adoption of new technologies, e. g. AI, in long-term care markets with help of a survey. This survey can be linked to administrative data to evaluate how the adoption of new technologies is linked to the quality of care provision. Methods from industrial economics will be used to investigate how technology adoption will affect quality of care in the German long-term care market. 2. Estimation of treatment effects with unstructured data with an application to the quality of healthcare (Prof. Dr. Martin Spindler) Driven by the digitalization in medicine and the health care sector, more and more unstructured data in the form of text and images are available. In this sub-project, it is planned to develop methods to estimate causal effects from such unstructured data based on Deep Learning and Foundation Models. The results will help to improve the quality of health care. 3. How digital/online patient-physician contacts impact quality of care (Prof. Dr. Tom Stargardt) An increasing number of patient-physician contacts takes place digitally/online. While this may allow faster and easier access to health care resources, it also has implications for the physician-patient relationship. For example, an online consultation offers less possibilities for using diagnostic procedures and is more restrictive with respect to the provision of preventive services during the contact. Yet, the lower barrier for access may also impact pharmaceutical prescribing and the likelihood for seeking or being prescribed sick leave. For the purpose of the research, administrative data from a statutory health insurer will be available. 4. Impact of health insurance on health and quality of life (Prof. Dr. Petra Steinorth) We aim to analyze whether quality differences by health insurers have a measurable impact on health outcomes in a highly developed health care and insurance market such as Germany. We propose to investigate the above-mentioned research question based on the German Socio-Oeconomic-Panel (SOEP). It includes information on mortality, morbidity and standardized health outcome measures such as the SF-12 score as well as information on health care utilization. 5. Measuring the needs and benefits in informal care for people with chronic wounds (Prof. Dr. Matthias Augustin) People with chronic wounds often face significant physical and emotional impairment, resulting to a substantial need for ongoing care. In many cases, informal caregivers – typically family members – play a crucial role. Many caregivers are still working; others may have physical impairments themselves. While validated patient-reported outcomes measures exist to assess the treatment needs and quality of life of patients with chronic wounds, less is known about the needs of caregivers and their social and economic situation. The PhD student could develop a standardized questionnaire to assess the needs of informal caregivers and both benefits and burdens of their work which could then be used to identify consequences for the quality of care. 6. Provider decision making and its impact on quality of care – an analysis of changes in financial incentives (Prof. Dr. Jonas Schreyögg) Different policy approaches are used to address the problem of provider-induced demand. With regard to hospitals, two approaches are of particular importance: Degressive pricing (introduced in 2017) and billing reviews (i.e., auditing conducted by health insures). Both approaches have received little attention in research. The aim of the research in this area is therefore to analyze the links between these policy approaches and the quality of care. In both cases, administrative data from a statutory health insurer will be available. 7. Quality of formal and informal care in patients with post-acute infection syndromes (PAIS) (PD Dr. Christine Blome) The prevalence of PAIS is increasing in both children/adolescents and adults, including complex chronic diseases such as myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) and Post-COVID syndrome. However, it is often challenging to procure the level of care needed (e. g., due to a lack of disease-related knowledge on the part of assessors, stigmatisation processes, and lack of physical capacity needed for the assessment process). Consequently, relatives assume a pivotal role in the provision of informal care for patients with PAIS. A PhD student could investigate the care-related needs and burdens of both caregivers and patients with PAIS using mixed-methods research designs. 8. Reciprocity and decision-making mechanisms in physician-patient interaction – an experimental analysis (Prof. Dr. Johanna Kokot) This research project could use experimental methods to examine how reciprocity influences the behavior of physicians and patients and how it is affected by incentive mechanisms and payment systems. Building on previous experimental findings showing that physicians adjust their level of treatment effort based on patients’ decisions to purchase an out-of-pocket additional service, the study could further explore the underlying mechanisms of this interaction. The findings would have direct implications for the design of payment models and incentives for preventive care. 9. Staffing regulations in the long-term care market (Prof. Dr. Biliana Yontcheva) To increase the quality of care the government has made changes in the regulation of skilled labor quotas and personnel assessment limits. According to preliminary estimates, nursing homes will have to raise their employment levels by 36 % on average. While this reform is likely to improve the quality of service provision for elderly who already have a place in a nursing home, it may also put a significant strain on the profitability of existing homes. In this project, the PhD student investigate the effects of labor quotas with the use of German administrative data. 10. The provision of credence goods under dual health insurance (Prof. Dr. Mathias Kifmann) In healthcare, a key characteristic is that services are delivered by specialized professionals, and patients often lack the ability to assess whether they have received the appropriate quality of care. Such services are known as credence goods. Our analysis seeks to deepen the understanding of physicians' treatment decisions concerning patients' insurance status. This project is motivated by the German dual health insurance system, in which private health insurance generally provides more generous reimbursements to physicians. Our goal is to develop a credence good model tailored to this context that incorporates endogenous capacity constraints. The hypotheses derived from this model could serve as a foundation for a laboratory experiment. 11. The role of quality indicators in the selection of GPs (Prof. Dr. André Hajek) Quality indicators play an important role in the selection of family doctors. They can help patients make informed decisions by taking into account aspects such as practice organization, waiting times, patient satisfaction, and treatment outcomes. They can support healthcare systems in ensuring high-quality care and identifying areas for improvement. After systematically reviewing the current state of research, PhD students could, for example, develop a questionnaire to analyze the relevance of certain quality indicators for the choice of family doctors. Additionally, discrete choice experiments could be used for this purpose. 12. Which factors influence the use of emergency medical services for low acuity problems – a mixed methods study (Prof. Dr. Hans-Helmut König) The number of emergency medical services (EMS) calls in Germany is steadily increasing. A significant proportion of callers presents with low-acuity problems, for which a typical ambulance is an inefficient response; their reasons for calling EMS are not yet well understood. Identifying the factors that influence the decision to call EMS and the extent of their impact would allow the development of targeted interventions to guide potential callers to the primary care sector, enable them to self-manage, or provide more appropriate EMS resources. The factors will be elicited using interviews and their impact measured by using stated preference methods.

Ihr Profil

Abschluss eines Hochschulstudiums der Fachrichtungen VWL, BWL, Gesundheitsökonomie oder einer vergleichbaren Fachrichtung, der in einem forschungsorientierten wirtschaftswissenschaftlichen Masterprogramm mit mindestens überdurchschnittlichem Ergebnis erworben wurde. Zusammen mit dem vorherigen Bachelor-Abschluss sollten im Idealfall 300 ECTS erreicht worden sein. Bewerbungen aus anderen Disziplinen können nur bei zusätzlicher wirtschaftswissenschaftlicher Qualifikation berücksichtigt werden. Neben dem Nachweis hoher Motivation und Interesse für Forschung durch Anschreiben und Lebenslauf sollen Bewerber:innen einen kurzen ca. 1000 Wörter umfassenden Aufsatz zu einem der 12 oben genannten Themen im Bereich Qualität der Gesundheitsversorgung einreichen. Zudem ist anzugeben, für welche der 12 Forschungsthemen sich die Bewerber:innen am meisten interessieren.

Wir bieten Ihnen

• Sichere Vergütung nach Tarif
• Weiterbildungs­möglichkeiten
• Betriebliche Altersvorsorge
• Attraktive Lage
• Flexible Arbeitszeiten
• Möglichkeiten zur Vereinbarkeit von Beruf und Familie
• Gesundheitsmanagement, EGYM Wellpass
• Bildungsurlaub
• 30 Tage Urlaub/Jahr

Die Exzellenzuniversität Hamburg gehört zu den forschungsstärksten Wissenschafts- und Bildungs­einrichtungen Deutschlands. Durch Forschung und Lehre, Bildung und Wissenstransfer auf höchstem Niveau fördern wir die Entwicklung einer neuen Generation verantwortungs­bewusster Weltbürger:innen, die den globalen Herausforderungen unserer Zeit gewachsen ist. Mit unserem Leitmotiv „Innovating and Cooperating for a Sustainable Future in a Digital Age“ gestalten wir die Zusammenarbeit mit wissenschaftlichen und außerwissen­schaftlichen Partner­institutionen in der Metropolregion Hamburg und weltweit. Wir laden Sie ein, Teil unserer Gemeinschaft zu werden, um gemeinsam mit uns einen nachhaltigen und digitalen Wandel für eine dynamische und pluralistische Gesellschaft zu gestalten. Die FHH fördert die Gleichstellung von Frauen und Männern. Wir fordern Männer und Frauen gem. § 7 Abs. 1 des Hamburgischen Gleichstellungsgesetzes (HmbGleiG) daher ausdrücklich auf, sich zu bewerben. Sie werden bei gleicher Eignung, Befähigung und fachlicher Leistung vorrangig berücksichtigt. Schwerbehinderte und ihnen gleichgestellte behinderte Menschen haben Vorrang vor gesetzlich nicht bevorrechtigten bewerbenden Personen gleicher Eignung, Befähigung und fachlicher Leistung.