Forum Health Research presents indicators for cooperation

3rd February 2022 — "Profitable design and management of cooperations " – this is the title of a paper published by the Health Research Forum, whose office is located at DLR Projektträger (DLR-PT). It is addressed to all actors in health research in order to strengthen the significance, added value and result orientation of cooperation schemes. Cooperation is not an end in itself in health research either, but provides the basis for efficient and successful research as well as the transfer of findings to care and the health system. The prerequisite is effective planning and control. The paper provides concrete indications for this. DLR-PT supported the preparation and writing of the paper and provided technical and administrative support to the working group "Cooperation of German Health Research Institutions" of the Health Research Forum.

Key indicators help with planning and implementation

The core of the paper is the presentation of key performance indicators (KPIs) as a tool for the further development of existing collaborative ventures as well as for the success-oriented design of new ones. These KPIs can be selected and adapted by actors of specific cooperation schemes according to their respective backgrounds and goals. In this way, they can plan in a goal-oriented manner, assess the performance and success of their cooperation, and manage it accordingly. As a result, this should help to make strategic and long-term cooperation more effective and successful, and thus more attractive for everyone involved.

Indicators also offer useful assistance for evaluations

According to the Forum, the paper is not only suitable for controlling and measuring the success of cooperation projects. Rather, it can also be used to formulate guiding questions and assessment criteria for appraisal or evaluation processes. The Health Research Forum plans to continue to deal with the topic of cooperation beyond the development of the recommendation.