Milestones

In 1980, scientists from the Technical University of Berlin (TU Berlin) founded the IGES Institut for Health and Social Research. In 2008, it was renamed the IGES Institut.
Consequently, the IGES Institut has a history spanning more than 45 years and is now one of the largest independent research and consulting institutes for health systems research in Germany.

The idea behind establishing a research institute for healthcare emerged from a focus on hospital construction. For many years, the founders of IGES had been examining the infrastructural and economic conditions that need be met when building new hospitals. Over time, their work has been increasingly shaped by a broader question: how does the healthcare system itself function? They recognised a significant need for research in this field and responded by establishing an independent, privately funded institute.  

Sound scientific analyses and evidence-based solutions to the challenges of a complex healthcare system have been at the heart of the IGES Institut's work ever since.

 

The following chronicles the most important developments which have shaped the IGES Institut from conception into what it is today.

A chronology of the key developments at the IGES Institut

1980+
First assessments of health insurance data: how is the healthcare system performing?

The starting point for IGES is its strict empirical orientation. This results in the fact that for the first time ever, data from health insurances are made available electronically. The early 1980s are characterized primarily by “transparency projects.” Analyses are conducted on what services the health care system renders, who uses these services, and why which costs are incurred as a result of this. The interrelation between the health care system and other regional and municipal services is a decisive factor in the early phase.

1985+
The term ‘health services research’ is coined: what is quality of care in the ambulatory sector?

Even though health services research with medical issues has assumed great significance right from the start (IGES probably used the term “health services research” for the first time ever in 1990), this is now also followed by those projects during which the results of analyses are sent back directly to the physicians. This is the launch of quality assurance. IGES assumes a pioneering role in ambulatory health care.

When it comes to “health reporting”, IGES plays a decisive role as well. The first health care reports in Germany’s individual federal states are developed and submitted by IGES. IGES is responsible for the Federal Government’s health reporting.

1990+
The healthcare systems of both German states are integrated: what will happen with the GDR’s (German Democratic Republic) polyclinic system?

After Germany’s political reunification, the integration of the two German health care systems is on the agenda. As an institute located in Berlin, IGES is predestined to assume a leading role in the transformation of the GDR’s polyclinic system in the state of Brandenburg so that it conforms to the “health center” concept.

This is also the time of the major statutory health insurance (GKV) reform which ends the classification of citizens into different social systems according to their individual status while, at the same time, introducing the citizen’s right to choose their own health insurance provider. IGES plays a decisive role in the development of the first step of the risk structure compensation scheme (RSA).

1995+
IGES founds CSG Clinische Studien Gesellschaft (Clinical Studies GmbH): how can clinical research be supported technologically?

The consolidation of both health systems generates positive impulses for the integration of medical care. IGES develops services for patients with chronic diseases in Brandenburg and for a physicians’ network in Berlin. In addition, quality management systems are linked to modern forms of inter-institutional data management. Contractual solutions for integrated health care forms are created.

With the establishment of the CSG corporation, IGES breaks new ground: Clinical research and data documentation via the internet.

2000+
Integrated health care and risk structure compensation schemes are developed further: which contractual, organizational and conceptual methods make sense?

Two large projects of the Federal Government (1998-2002) characterize the work of IGES: The morbidity based risk structure compensation scheme (Morbi-RSA) as well as the conceptual design of integrated health care for which an incentive has been created with start-up funding. For the latter, IGES develops entrepreneurial models as well as methods to evaluate the actual impact. Another focus is on concepts for quality management in ambulatory institutions.

IGES addresses the pharmaceutical market. An essential part of the work includes studies on population related consumption, market dynamics of patent protection as well as effectiveness and efficiency. This is complemented by health technology assessment (HTA) and health services research.

2005+
The “IGES Arzneimittel-Atlas” (“IGES Medicinal Products Atlas”) is published as a new work of reference: how can statutory health insurance drug expenditure developments be better understood?

The new IGES subject areas ‘mobility’ and ‘education’ are established: how can other infrastructure sectors benefit from IGES’s concept for healthcare system research?

The combination of clinical research conducted at CSG with health economic approaches developed at IGES creates the foundation for numerous integrated projects revolving around health economics. Health services research is gaining increased significance.

Initial consulting projects are launched which help create medical health service structures in such developing countries as Kenya, Uganda, and Cambodia.

The “IGES Arzneimittel-Atlas” (“IGES Medicinal Products Atlas”) is created and becomes a national reference point for analyses of the pharmaceutical market.

2010+
The IGES Institut is growing nationally and internationally: how can the globally growing importance of health economic assessments be appropriately considered?

In 2011, for the first time in the history of German health policy, prices for medicinal products can no longer be freely set by pharmaceutical companies, but are linked to the degree of additional benefits the respective drugs have. With this, health economics assessments and cost-benefit analyses have become obligatory for the SHI market. In order to meet the growing demand in this field, the IGES Institut is expanding its range of services and strengthening its national presence with an office in Nuremberg, where a team of experts “Health Economics & Outcomes Research (HEOR)” has been working since 2012.

2015+
Benefit assessments are playing an increasingly important role across the globe and in Germany, too. What does this mean for the supply of medicinal products and medical devices?

Following the advent of benefit assessment in the pharmaceutical sector, similar regulations are taking on greater importance for certain medical devices, too. Consequently, the expansion of the IGES group to include the consulting company "AiM - Assessment in Medicine" at the end of 2014 has turned out to be a very good move. Based in Lörrach, Baden-Württemberg, AiM specialises in strategic and health economics consulting for medical device companies. In cooperation with IGES experts, it is focussing its attention more and more on services for manufacturers and stakeholders in the field of medical technology.

The concept that involves transforming the IGES Institute into a comprehensive knowledge enterprise not only for the healthcare sector but also for other areas of infrastructure really is coming into its own. The "IGES Transport" division is growing steadily. IGES has responded to this trend by inviting its director to join its Management Board.

2020+
IGES can look back proudly on 40 years of research and consulting activities in the healthcare sector and is now looking to the next decades. Where will the challenges of the future be located?

At the beginning of the 2020s, the IGES Group embarked on more extensive internationalisation. In 2020, more precisely, IGES acquired a majority shareholding in the French medical technology consulting company Meditech Access. The company is a leading provider of consulting services to medical device manufacturers seeking to launch products on the markets in France and Europe. Together with the companies Device Access in the UK and AiM (Lörrach) GmbH, the IGES Group now boasts a comprehensive Europe-wide consulting and service network in the field of medical technology. This message is clearly delivered to clients by the umbrella name IGES MedTech.

With the founding of IGES UK Pharma in 2022, an additional European consulting service was put in place for the manufacturers and developers of medicinal products.

2025+
Healthcare is increasingly taking on a European dimension. Although health policy is primarily the responsibility of individual Member States, the influence of the European Union on national healthcare systems is steadily growing. How is IGES accompanying this transformation?

For more than ten years, the IGES Institut has pursued a strategy of international growth and has acquired or established subsidiaries in six European countries. This led to the creation of the IGES Group. This was, and continues to be, a response to the growing Europeanisation of health policy. Successfully supporting these processes requires both: expertise in national healthcare systems and an understanding of European regulatory frameworks. The IGES Group has both, and demand for this combined expertise has remained high for many years.

To advance internationalisation and competitiveness in a consistent and future-focused manner, the IGES Group joined the athagoras Group in March 2025. Athagoras is a holding company that brings together companies operating in the healthcare sector. It is developing the Group into a technology-enabled European specialist service provider for healthcare systems and for the clinical and commercial development of healthcare innovations.