[The patient at the center of health services research]

The article gives an overview of how health services research helps to plan and optimize patient-centered health services. The decision-making processes on the micro-level (individual treatment decisions) and the macro-level (decisions about structuring of the healthcare system) are examined. Examples from the field of rheumatology illustrate how results of health services research can help to improve decisions about treatment by providing relevant information about quality of health services which helps in the joint decision-making process. Furthermore, it becomes clear that political decisions to improve health care service structures can be better achieved if scientific proof of deficits in existing health service structures can be provided. The article also shows how health services research helps to describe and redefine the roles of patients and patient-doctor communication. Additionally, the active role of patients in (health services) research is addressed.