Focus on low-value care: Insights and options for action

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 part of the symposium will look at the evidence and scientific basis for the topic. The presentations will include, for example, findings from health services research, whilst the viewpoint of GPs will also be taken into account. Ideas from abroad are also part of the programme: the Netherlands, for example, has already gathered some experience of reducing low-value care, which will be part of the discussion.

In the second part of the event, the topic of low-value care will then be examined from a wide range of angles: the regulatory perspective will be considered, as well as the patient perspective and that of the pharmaceutical industry. A further talk will concentrate on the topic of low-value care for the seriously ill.

The symposium will conclude with a moderated closing discussion involving all the speakers – and the audience will also be invited to contribute their thoughts and ideas. The main focus here will be to outline specific steps for identifying and reducing low-value care in Germany: possible options for action that will allow us to work together towards the goal of systematically phasing out low-value care.