[Current responsibilities of health care research and political counseling]

Health systems research aims to contribute to the progressive development of medicine and health services. To bridge the gap between the two logics of scientific and the political administrative agency, politics consultancy may be applied. However, the chances of transferring scientific knowledge into rational politics vary widely. Major issues of health system research include outcome oriented health targets, outcome oriented reimbursement, health technology assessment, new forms of provision, patient information and ageing in regard to healthcare. Physicians are advised to keep in touch with these developments--although some of them are still in an embryonic stage--because they have the potential to deeply influence the physician's practice routines in the future.