The Center for Health Care Research & Public Health (CHCR & PH) aims to build and to foster stable and internationally competitive health services research structures and activities at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE) and the University of Hamburg. In particular, the CHCR & PH conducts innovative health services research projects and focuses specifically on the promotion of junior researchers. The CHCR & PH was founded in 2006 and has grown steadily in terms of member institutions, third-party funds, and publications reflecting the significance and productivity of health services research at the UKE and in the Metropolitan area of Hamburg. As a result, the UKE defined health services research 2009 as one of its five key research areas. The research areas of the CHCR & PH are: ·

• Development, (cost-)effectiveness evaluation, and implementation of innovative care models ·
• Patient-centered care, patient involvement and patient safety ·
• Development and evaluation of e-health interventions ·
• Theoretical models and methods in health services research ·
• Inequalities in health and health care

The research areas are based on multidisciplinary cooperation in different out- and inpatient sector levels and are focused on various (chronic) diseases (e.g. cancer, multiple sclerosis, vascular conditions) and mental disorders (e.g. depressive, somatoform and addiction disorders, severe mental illness).