Administrative Data from Germanys Statutory Health Insurances for Social, Economic and Medical Research

This article gives a short description of administrative data sources from Germany's statutory health insurances which are of potential interest for social, economic and medical research. After an introduction, the underlying legal regulations as well as the structure and contents for the most interesting databases are shortly described. Current and future accessibility of this data sources are discussed in the context of legal and data privacy protection issues. Aspects of data validity and completeness are provided for the different data sources. Additionally an up-to-date example from health care research using administrative data is given. Finally potentials and limitations of research using administrative data medical data from Germanys Statutory Health Insurances are put into perspective