KOMMVZ-INNO: Municipal Medical Care Centers – Conditions for Establishment and Potential for Innovation

Project Duration: March 1, 2025 – February 29, 2028

Project Team University of Vienna (Consortium Partner)

Project Team Bielefeld University (Consortium Lead)

Project Team Fern Universität in Hagen (Consortium Partner)

Funding Institution:
The project is funded by the Innovation Fund of the Joint Federal Committee in Germany.

Short Introduction:

Since 2015, municipalities in Germany have been able to operate medical care centers (Medizinische Versorgungszentren – MVZ). However, thus far, only a few have taken advantage of this opportunity. The close integration with municipal administration creates opportunities to directly connect statutory health insurance medical care services with municipally funded social programs, including child and youth welfare, support for older people, social counselling, and the inclusion of people with disabilities.

The project examines the conditions for establishment, long-term sustainability perspectives, and potential for innovation of municipal medical care centres. We anticipate long-term opportunities for innovation in designing interfaces between healthcare services in the strict sense and health promotion, prevention, long-term care, and rehabilitation within the context of municipal engagement in these areas. In this study we aim to generate insights for the self-governance of statutory health insurance and its cooperation with municipalities, as well as to develop recommendations for the establishment and further development of municipal medical care centres.

Leading questions of the project:

  • What conditions promote or hinder the establishment and sustainable development of municipal medical care centres?
  • What innovation potential do municipal medical care centres offer, both as a model for multiprofessional, integrated outpatient care and for networking with other actors at the municipal level?

Methodological Approach

The mixed-methods design, with a qualitative focus, combines several coordinated empirical sub-studies:

  1. A policy analysis through document review and expert interviews with key stakeholders in regional and national health policy.
  2. A comprehensive online survey (covering all medical centres) to analyse organizational characteristics, structural conditions, as well as development trends and perspectives of existing municipal medical care centers.
  3. In-depth case studies of selected municipal medical care centres, including expert interviews, site visits, and document analysis.
  4. Focus groups with physicians and other health professionals working in municipal medical care centres, as well as relevant institutions, to discuss and validate the findings.