EbIM Research & Education

Team

Evidence-based Insurance Medicine, EbIM, examines issues from insurance medicine practice and promotes evidence-based insurance medicine. With its interdisciplinary educational activities, it shapes the professionalization of insurance medicine.

EbIM, Evidence-based Insurance Medicine

Department of Clinical Research
University Hospital Basel
Spitalstrasse 8+12
4031 Basel
regina.kunz@usb.ch

Our topics

EbIM research projects

Insurance medicine research is a young field of applied research with interfaces to preventive, clinical and rehabilitative medicine and public health. It offers numerous opportunities for interdisciplinary cooperation with the aim of supporting decisions in insurance medicine with scientific findings. To this end, we develop and evaluate new methods, instruments and interventions for use in practice.

With our research:

we strive to improve and further develop insurance medicine
we investigate questions from practice
we develop solution concepts for insurance medicine problems
we support and develop evidence-based insurance medicine
we promote interdisciplinary research

Our focus areas are

Quality in the assessment
International Classification of Functioning (ICF) of the WHO in assessment
New forms of assessment
Return to work
Evidence-based insurance medicine

PhD program

As part of a three-year PhD program and together with our network, we offer the opportunity for structured training in applied research in insurance medicine.

Education

EbIM has developed an educational program at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Basel, which is being expanded every year.

It is aimed at medical students, doctors in further training and practitioners and is also open to specialists and anyone interested in the field

EbIM training

In collaboration with the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH), EbIM teaches the basic knowledge for the medical profession in the subject of insurance medicine as part of the medical curriculum.

Important topics include the social and private insurance system in Switzerland, health, accident and disability insurance laws, daily allowance insurance and pension funds, incapacity for work, disability, risk assessment, prevention and reintegration, case management, the role and task of the doctor, current developments.

Insurance medicine is part of the subject "Public Health". In the clinic, it is an important addition to clinical specialties such as rheumatology, psychiatry, neurology and orthopaedics.

MAS Insurance Medicine

The MAS in Insurance Medicine is a postgraduate course at the University of Basel.

With 60 ECTS, the MAS in Insurance Medicine is designed as a three-year, part-time course with 13 compulsory modules. The modules are offered in Basel, Switzerland, as well as one module each at the foreign partner universities, the Eberhardt-Karls University of Tübingen (D), Institute of Occupational Medicine, Social Medicine and Health Services Research, and the Medical University of Vienna (A), Institute of Social Medicine.

The training is aimed at doctors, lawyers, psychologists, case managers and insurance specialists from Switzerland, Germany and Austria.

Graduates of the MAS in Insurance Medicine qualify for a proven specialist management function at social insurers, in the insurance industry, at cantonal and federal health authorities or at federal or state authorities as well as at specialist organizations, associations and clinics. Thanks to the interdisciplinary and tri-national structure (CH-D-A) of the degree program, participants learn and deepen relevant basic knowledge from public health and medicine, as well as legal, economic, mathematical and political (social, health and financial policy) aspects of the insurance and healthcare system in Switzerland and other German-speaking countries.

Further information can be found on the MAS Insurance Medicine website.

Cochrane Insurance Medicine

The Cochrane Group Insurance Medicine, initiated and co-founded by EbIM, has been in existence for more than 5 years.

Cochrane Insurance Medicine, CIM, deals with central topics in insurance medicine. The aim of Cochrane Insurance Medicine is to provide high-quality research evidence on sick leave, assessment and occupational reintegration and thus enable practicing physicians, assessors, insurance physicians, lawyers, reintegration experts, etc. to make scientifically sound decisions and assessments.

On our Evidence website you will find systematic reviews on insurance medicine, common instruments and methodological studies for research purposes.

As an international network, we collaborate with researchers and stakeholders in insurance medicine from Switzerland, the Netherlands, Sweden and Canada.

If you have any questions, please contact Heike Raatz, Coordinator Cochrane Insurance Medicine

RELY studies on the assessment of people with mental impairments

People with mental impairments who apply for an IV/UV pension often have to undergo an assessment by psychiatrists. In the RELY studies, we looked for ways to improve the reproducibility of the assessment, its acceptance and comprehensibility in this process. RELY stands for Reliable Psychiatric Assessment in the Pension Procedure .
The results of the RELY studies have been available to the public since July 3, 2019.

The study was financially supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation, the Federal Social Insurance Office and SUVA. SUVA and the Federal Social Insurance Office financed the practical part of the study (multiple assessments in the test phase). The FSIO provided funding as part of a pilot project in accordance with Art. 68quater IVG.

Results

On July 3, 2019, the long-awaited results of the RELY studies on the reproducibility of fitness for work assessments were presented to the professional community at a symposium at Basel University Hospital. Stakeholders from more than 15 organizations and institutions related to the assessment system, former participants in the studies and interested experts were present and discussed the results.

The annual reports

In our biennial reports, we report on the highlights of this period and inform you about the work of our research and education unit and our collaboration with other groups.