AOK Bremen/Bremerhaven
Storytime with: Olaf Woggan
WHY is AOK doing research to make patient care better?
HERE’S WHY – As a health-insurance fund, AOK Bremen/Bremerhaven not only wants to pay for medical services, but also provide guidance when it is useful. That is because there are “blind spots” in healthcare that often go missed by the medical system. People in these blind spots end up receiving care that is not as good as it could be. One frequent example of this is patients being prescribed unnecessary antibiotics for straightforward urinary-tract infections – which are a major problem for women in particular. Care for chronic wounds can also tend to leave something to be desired, making patients suffer unnecessarily.
WHY is there a bit of the University of Bremen at the AOK?
HERE’S WHY – AOK Bremen/Bremerhaven is one of the oldest health-insurance funds in Germany and has had roots in the federal state of Bremen for over 130 years. Many of its employees studied at the University of Bremen. Since its very beginning, the AOK has used many of the research findings made by the university and its institutes, while also financing and supporting studies. It provides anonymous data for them which scholars can use in research.