IQWiG Autumn Symposium
Focus on low-value care: Insights and options for action
Register now for the IQWiG Autumn Symposium on 20 November 2026 in Cologne!
Cost pressures within the health care system are mounting, making the issue of low-value care all the more pressing: but how can medical services that offer little or no benefit to patients and unnecessarily tie up resources be systematically identified in the first place? This question is the focus of this year’s IQWiG Autumn Symposium.
The first session will focus on evidence and the scientific basis: Verena Vogt, Professor of Quantitative Health Services Research at Jena University Hospital and a member of the Health Finance Commission, will demonstrate how to measure low-value care using routine statutory health insurance data. Simone van Dulmen from Radboud University Medical Center in Nijmegen will report on experiences from the Netherlands. Jean-François Chenot, Head of the Department of General Practice at Greifswald University Hospital, will discuss the tension between practical reason, evidence and regulatory specifications.
In the second part, the speakers will shed light on low-value care from various perspectives: Franz Knieps, long-standing CEO of the BKK (company health insurance funds) umbrella organisation, will explain the regulatory perspective. Gregor Bornes from ‘Gesundheitsladen Köln’ will outline the patients’ perspective, whilst Matthias Wilken from the BPI (German industry association for the pharmaceutical industry) will set out that of the pharmaceutical industry. Claudia Spies from Berlin’s Charité hospital will discuss the limits of low-value care for the seriously ill.
The event will conclude with a moderated dialogue involving all the speakers, followed by a closing discussion involving the audience on the specific next steps towards identifying and reducing low-value care in Germany.
Programme | Friday, 20 November 2026
| from 12:00 | Informal onboarding session with snacks and drinks |
| 12:30 – 12:40 | Welcome IQWiG Institute Management and moderation team urban & saal |
| 12:40 – 13:10 | Prof. Dr Verena Vogt – Jena University Hospital Measuring low-value care using routine statutory health insurance data: status quo and outlook |
| 13:10 – 13:40 | Dr. Simone van Dulmen – Radboud University, Netherlands Challenges and opportunities to reduce low-value care. Lessons from the Netherlands. |
| 13:40 – 14:10 | Prof. Dr Jean-François Chenot – Greifswald University Hospital Practical reason, evidence and regulatory specifications: sometimes contradictory |
| 14:10 – 15:00 | Lunchtime snack |
| 15:00 – 15:20 | Franz Knieps – Senior Adviser The regulatory perspective |
| 15:20 – 15:40 | Gregor Bornes – Gesundheitsladen e.V. The patient perspective |
| 15:40 – 16:00 | Prof. Dr Claudia Spies – Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin The limits of an economic perspective / Low-value care for the seriously ill |
| 16:00 – 16:20 | Dr Matthias Wilken – BPI e.V. The pharmaceutical industry’s perspective |
| 16:20 – 16:45 | Coffee Break |
| 16:45 – 17:45 | Closing discussion What are the specific next steps from identifying to reducing low-value care in Germany? |
| 17:45 – 18:00 | Summary and close IQWiG Institute Management and moderation team urban & saal |
| 18:00 – 23:00 | Evening event with buffet and drinks |
Current and controversial aspects in medicine and health politics are regular topics at the annual Autumn Symposium organised by the Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care. The spectrum of speakers is usually as broad as the range of topics and includes epidemiologists and oncologists, as well as health economists and lawyers.