I am a physician and psychotherapist with board certifications for internal medicine and psychosomatic medicine. My clinical and research motivation is to reintroduce ‘the subject’ back into medicine. I believe, patient-reported health assessments could be one-step towards this goal - but require a solid measurement approach. I was introduced into the field of modern psychometrics by the team around John Ware, one of the SF-36 developers, and in particular, Jakob B. Bjørner. Within our department at the Charité, we are using ePRO assessments since 1995, and CATs since 2004 for clinical routines. In my view, patient-reported health assessments need to become more similar to laboratory tests. After an era of instrument-development, greater standardization is warranted.
Director Department of Psychosomatic Medicine, Center for Internal Medicine and Dermatology
Co-Director National Center for Tumor Diseases
Co-Director Charité Spine Center
Co-Director Charité Mental Health
Co-Investigator, PROMIS
Working Group Chair, ICHOM
Member Quality of Life Group, EORTC
Psychometric Lecturer; T.H. Chan School of Public Health; Harvard University