Mentor, driving force and companion for healthcare research

As part of his farewell symposium on 14 March 2025 at the University Hospital of Cologne, Prof. Dr. Holger Pfaff was awarded honorary membership of the DNVF by the DNVF Chairman, Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Hoffmann.

The history and development of health services research in Germany is closely linked to the career path of Prof. Holger Pfaff. His excellent achievements as a bridge-builder between different faculties, as a pioneer and founding father of health services research in Germany and his international networking were honored in all eleven laudatory speeches at the symposium.

Holger Pfaff has conducted research that generates evidence on the structures, processes and outcomes of healthcare and their determinants. In doing so, he has laid important foundations for evidence-based decisions in healthcare. Most recently, together with Jochen Schmitt, he published a series of articles that show a path from theoretical best evidence to practical best evidence in order to remain capable of decision making in crisis situations and during structural change processes [1] [2] [3]. He sees the methodological support and promotion of the transfer of scientific findings into practice as an essential task of health services research to achieve improved care and health for the general public. As Chairman of the Expert Advisory Board of the Innovation Fund, he has made a decisive contribution to ensuring that health services research plays an increasingly important role in the health policy landscape and that changes in the healthcare system are driven forward on the basis of evidence. At the same time, as a long-standing DFG fellow in Section 4 "Genetic, Metabolic and Regulatory Basis of Diseases and Public Health" of Review Board 205 "Medicine", he has established health services research and therefore fundamental research in the DFG. The methodological, substantive and theoretical development of health services research into an independent scientific discipline with fundamental and applied research is a project that the DNVF will continue to drive forward with him as a mentor.

Holger Pfaff was President of the 1st German Congress for Health Services Research 2003 (DKVF) and Chairman of the Standing Congress Commission, from which the DNVF emerged in 2006. He also chaired the 20th DKVF in 2021. His call to "dare to embrace more theory" on this occasion in 2021 has given the network and German health services research new impetus, without which the founding of the Causal Inference in Health Services Research working group and the current intensive discussion on the topic of the self-perception and understanding of health services research in Germany by those who conduct it would not exist. The throughput model [4], which he primarily created, is one of the essential descriptions for understanding health care processes in order to better understand the complex interventions in health care. The model is a basis for evaluating the effectiveness of care in practice, identifying overuse and misuse and generating new forms of care. The aim is to promote an evidence-based, patient-centred healthcare system. The great importance of access to and scientific utilisation of healthcare-related data (VeDa) is also reflected in the throughput model.

The foundation of the DNVF by 26 specialist societies in 2006 with Prof. Holger Pfaff as founding president has formed the essential organisational framework for health services research in Germany, in which the young discipline has developed well to date. Holger Pfaff was careful to establish a network rather than a specialist society, firstly in order to utilise the impulse of new beginnings and fresh starts, and secondly to involve as many participating members of the healthcare system as possible. The current 126 institutional members, including patient representatives, and the 415 personal members of the DNVF reflect the breadth of care. The first memoranda and the textbook Versorgungsforschung as well as subsequent position and discussion papers provided and continue to provide a substantive and methodological framework for German health services research. The network has now published 14 memoranda, which are produced by the 27 working and specialist groups and discussed throughout the network before they are then published in a consensus.

Holger Pfaff continues to be the spokesperson for the group of university lecturers in the DNVF. Since the 1st Congress for Health Services Research in 2003, many new professorships have been created at German universities. There are now over 40 professorships at 34 locations and ten degree programmes in health services research. The promotion of young scientists has always been a pursuit close to Holger Pfaff's heart. It is also a central mission of the DNVF. Holger Pfaff has generously made his own resources available to this end, and his teaching and research activities have produced many excellent scientists. Examples include Prof. Dr. Lena Ansmann, Prof. Dr. Nicole Ernstmann and Prof. Dr. Nadine Scholten, who now hold chairs or professorships in health services research.

Holger Pfaff has founded the Centre for Health Services Research (ZVFK) in Cologne. The centre is a cross-faculty cooperation for joint, interdisciplinary healthcare research. It is made up of institutes and chairs from the Faculty of Human Sciences, the Faculty of Medicine and the Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences. The guiding principle of the ZVFK is "learning care". The orientation of this centre and Holger Pfaff's bridging professorship at the Faculty of Human Sciences and the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Cologne reflect one of the principles of his work, namely to combine a wide range of specialist expertise in order to link basic research and application orientation along the "translation chain" (from bench to practice) with high-performance healthcare research.

Learning care and translating the results of health care research into practice means changing patient care for the better. Holger Pfaff would put it this way: with our activities, we are not creating a "0", but a "1". The wide range of theoretical foundations, methodological excellence and efficient translation with the broadest possible involvement of all stakeholders is reflected in Holger Pfaff's national and international work. It is also clearly reflected in the body of the DNVF itself and its activities. We are very grateful to Prof. Holger Pfaff for this lasting influence and direction and hope that he will remain with us as an advisor, driving force and mentor for a long time to come.

Thomas Bierbaum, Managing Director

Martin Härter, Managing Director

Wolfgang Hoffmann, Editor in Chief, Chairman DNVF

Jochen Schmitt, Editor in Chief, Deputy Chairman DNVF

Thomas Bierbaum

Martin Härter

Wolfgang Hoffmann

Jochen Schmitt

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

• References

• 1 Pfaff H, Schmitt J. Shifting from Theoretical Best Evidence to Practical Best Evidence: an Approach to Overcome Structural Conservatism of Evidence-Based Medicine and Health Policy. Public Health 2024; 86: S239-S250
• 2 Pfaff H, Schmitt J. The Organic Turn: Coping With Pandemic and Non-pandemic Challenges by Integrating Evidence-, Theory-, Experience-, and Context-Based Knowledge in Advising Health Policy. Front Public Health 2021; 9: 727427
• 3 Pfaff H, Schmitt J. Reducing uncertainty in evidence-based health policy by integrating empirical and theoretical evidence: An EbM+theory approach. J Eval Clin Pract 2023; 29: 1279-1293
• 4 Pfaff H, Schrappe M. (Hrsg.). Gesundheitsversorgung und Disease Management: Grundlagen und Anwendungen der Versorgungsforschung. Verlag Hans Huber; 2003. ISBN: 9783456840260

Publication History

Article published online:
02 July 2025