[FG] Kunz Regina

A new field of applied research

Insurance medicine is a young field in applied research that interfaces with preventive, clinical, rehabilitative medicine, as well as public health. Research findings from interdisciplinary collaborations, both national and international, support decisions for individuals, populations, and systems. To this end, EbIM develops and evaluates new methods, tools, and interventions to be used in insurance medicine practice. It promotes the professionalization of insurance medicine through undergraduate, postgraduate, and continuous education activities. 

Research Focus

Clinical Epidemiology, Public Health & Health Systems

Approved Research Projects

• Evidence-based Insurance Medicine (EbIM)
• Cochrane Insurance Medicine (CIM)
• Core Outcome Set for WORK participation (COSforWORK)
• Reliable Psychiatric Evaluations (RELY)

Collaborations

National Collaborations

• Institute Humans in Complex Systems, FHNW School of Applied Psychology
• Swiss TPH, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute
• uniham-bb, Centre of Primary Health Care, University of Basel
• SIM, Swiss Insurance Medicine
• BSV, Federal Office of Social Insurance 

International Collaborations

• Cochrane Insurance Medicine with partners from the Netherlands, Sweden, Canada, Norway, Switzerland and other countries
• COS-WP (Core Outcome Set Work Participation) Working Group
• GRADE Working Group
• EUMASS, European Union of Medicine in Assurance and Social Security
• McMaster University, Canada (Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact; Michael G. DeGroote National Pain Centre)

Ongoing Research Projects

CONSISTENCY PROGRAM ON WORK DISABILITY ASSESSMENTS (ongoing)

• Inter-rater agreement in evaluation of disability: A systematic review of reproducibility studies.(published)
• Practice and quality of disability evaluations: a survey among Swiss psychiatrists. (published)/li>
• Attitudes towards evaluation of psychiatric disability claims: a survey of Swiss stakeholders. (published)
• Development of Instrument for Functional Assessment in Psychiatry (IFAP).(Manual)
• Development of training for a structured functional evaluation process in claimants with mental disorders. (Manual)
• The RELY-Studies: Improving the reliability and transparency of medical evaluations and their benefits to social judges, claimants and social insurers. (protocol paper published)
• Functional evaluations – the perceptions of psychiatrists. An interview study. (submitted)
• The interviews of disability evaluations in psychiatry. A content analysis. (ready for submission)
• Development and validation of a questionnaire assessing the fairness of the evaluation process perceived by claimants. (preparation of manuscript)

KNOWLEDGE TRANSLATION

• Information needs in insurance medicine. An international survey. (ready for submission)/li>
• Insurance medicine outcomes in Cochrane reviews. A prevalence study. (ongoing)
• GRADE methodology - Concept papers (ongoing)

METHODOLOGY FOR INSURANCE MEDICINE

• Work ability in patients with dizziness – ICF-based self-assessment and association with diagnosis and comorbidity. A pilot study. (ongoing)

SYSTEM APPROACHES TO KEEP PEOPLE WITH IMPAIRMENTS IN THE LABOUR MARKET

• Renal transplantation, employment and disability – Work trajectories of recipients of disability benefits following kidney transplantation? A feasibility study. (ongoing)
• Opioids for chronic non-cancer pain: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. (ongoing)