Future issues of Health Services Research: What do German experts say?

Background: The expectations of health services research are growing with its recognition and acceptance as an independent field within health research. Which are the issues health services research in Germany should deal with in future to perform the tasks it will be confronted with? Different health care players were to give answers to this question which was the aim of the workshop in Cologne at November 2010. The IMVR and WINEG hosted the ‘Expert Workshop - Future Issues of Health Services Research' in order to meet this goal. Methods: Experts met in four focus groups to identify the future issues of health services research in the one-day workshop. The participants discussed their proposed issues in a moderated session and decided on the key future issues of health services research in a double voting procedure. Results: The invitation was accepted by 6 experts of the medical profession, 4 of the group of sponsors, 13 scientific experts and 13 experts of the groups of third-party payers. According to their rating, ‘intersectoral networking', ‘patients' preferences', and ‘the evaluation of innovations, processes, and methods' are the three key future issues of health services research. Conclusions: The experts developed the key future issues for health services research according to their opinion. They answered the question on the issues, health services research should be occupied with in future, i. e. a broad range of topics. To a certain extent, they returned to former issues and problems for which satisfactory solutions have not yet been found.