Dirk Heider

Dirk Heider is a Researcher at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), leading a working group within the Institute of Health Economics and Health Care Research under the Faculty of Medicine. His research focuses on health economics, healthcare utilization patterns, mental health, and gerontology. He has contributed to studies on telehealth interventions, chronic disease management, and healthcare cost analyses.

Key research areas include the economic evaluation of mental health treatments, the impact of loneliness on healthcare use in older adults, and the optimization of clinical pathways. He has led randomized controlled trials (e.g., TeGeCoach for peripheral artery disease) and methodological studies comparing causal inference techniques using health insurance data.

Dr. Heider’s work bridges epidemiological analysis with practical healthcare policy, addressing topics like inappropriate medication use in aging populations and the cost-effectiveness of cardiac prehabilitation. His interdisciplinary approach integrates clinical, economic, and social determinants of health outcomes.