Stiftung Gesundheit

What Stiftung Gesundheit does

Stiftung Gesundheit is an independent, non-profit civil law foundation (Gemeinnützige rechtsfähige Stiftung bürgerlichen Rechts) established in Hamburg in 1996 under permanent state supervision (Stiftungsaufsichtsbehörde Hamburg). It operates the Arzt-Auskunft, a comprehensive directory and search platform covering virtually all outpatient healthcare providers in Germany—physicians, dentists, psychotherapists, clinics, rehabilitation facilities, medical care centers, pharmacies, and non-physician healthcare providers—built on its proprietary Strukturverzeichnis database and reaching approximately 60 million consumer searches per year. The foundation also issues the recognized Gütesiegel quality seal for health guides and websites, runs an annual Publizistik-Preis for health journalism (272 submissions in 2026), and conducts regular industry surveys including the quarterly Stimmungsbarometer and the ad-hoc Im Fokus series.

The foundation serves three primary customer segments. Patients and the general public access the Arzt-Auskunft portal free of charge, including via a multilingual AI chatbot launched in 2026. Healthcare providers can claim free basic profiles or upgrade to paid premium profiles via a self-serve portal. Institutional partners—predominantly German statutory and private health insurers, health portals, app developers, and electronic health record operators—license white-label access to the Arzt-Auskunft for integration into their own platforms; named anchors include Allianz Gesundheitswelt (~20-year relationship) and Techniker Krankenkasse. Publishers, website operators, and public bodies (e.g., BMAS, Deutsche Bahn via the namo project) engage through certification services, commissioned studies, and accessibility data integrations.

Revenue is generated across multiple streams: licensing fees from partners (primary revenue stream since the 2000s), subscription fees for Arzt-Auskunft Professional used by health-insurer call centers, premium provider profile subscriptions, certification fees, commissioned research for third parties (clients have included KLUG, bvitg, Wort & Bild Verlag, Opta Data Zukunfts-Stiftung), and tax-deductible donations and membership dues via the Fördergemeinschaft support association founded in 1999. The foundation is self-financing, not publicly traded, and discloses no revenue figures.

Name

Stiftung Gesundheit

Legal name

Stiftung Gesundheit

Website

https://stiftung-gesundheit.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

1996

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Stiftung Gesundheit is a Hamburg-based non-profit foundation operating Germany's most comprehensive outpatient healthcare provider directory (Arzt-Auskunft / Strukturverzeichnis), serving patients, healthcare providers, health insurers, and publishers through licensing, certification, surveys, and research.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Hamburg

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. License Fees from Partners: License partners embed the Arzt-Auskunft on their websites, in apps, and electronic health records, paying licensing fees to Stiftung Gesundheit. These fees are the primary revenue stream since the 2000s, funding the ongoing maintenance and development of the Strukturverzeichnis and all derived services.
2. Arzt-Auskunft Professional Licenses to Health Insurers: Health insurers license the professional-grade Arzt-Auskunft for use by their call centers and insured-person advisory services, providing a recurring institutional revenue stream.
3. Premium Profiles for Healthcare Providers: Healthcare providers can upgrade to a paid premium profile in the Arzt-Auskunft, supporting the foundation's platform development including AI chatbot features. Free basic profiles are also available.
4. Commissioned Studies and Analyses: The foundation conducts commissioned surveys, analyses, and research studies for third parties (e.g., health insurers, associations, public institutions), generating project-based revenue. Past clients include Wort & Bild Verlag, bvitg e.V., Opta Data Zukunfts-Stiftung, and Deutsche Allianz Klimawandel und Gesundheit.
5. Fördergemeinschaft Membership and Donations: The Fördergemeinschaft (support association) collects membership dues and donations to fund specific projects of the foundation, such as the Barrierefreie Praxis (Accessible Practice) initiative. Donations are tax-deductible as the foundation is recognized as charitable.
6. Certification Fees: Publishers and website operators pay certification fees to have their health guidebooks and health websites certified with the Gütesiegel of Stiftung Gesundheit.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Stiftung Gesundheit operates the Arzt-Auskunft, Germany's most comprehensive physician and healthcare provider directory, built on the Strukturverzeichnis database covering all active outpatient physicians, dentists, psychotherapists, clinics, pharmacies, and non-physician healthcare providers. The directory is offered directly to consumers via a free public portal with a multilingual AI chatbot, white-labeled to health insurers and digital health platforms as embeddable search, and delivered as a professional research tool to institutional users. Supporting services include Gütesiegel quality certification for health publications, the annual Publizistik-Preis journalism award, recurring physician sentiment surveys (Stimmungsbarometer), ad-hoc topic surveys (Im Fokus), and commissioned market research.

Product overview

Stiftung Gesundheit operates a multi-product platform centered on healthcare transparency and patient orientation in Germany. The core offering is the Arzt-Auskunft, a comprehensive physician and healthcare provider directory powered by the Strukturverzeichnis database, enhanced with a multilingual AI chatbot. This core product is offered directly to consumers and distributed through two branded variants: Arzt-Auskunft for Websites & Apps (white-label for license partners) and Arzt-Auskunft Professional (for institutional users). The company complements the directory with three certification and award products: the Gütesiegel for certifying health guides and websites, the Publizistik-Preis annual journalism award, and certified health guides listings. Research products include the Stimmungsbarometer (quarterly sentiment surveys) and Im Fokus (ad-hoc surveys) covering physicians and health professionals. Additional services include a Heilberufler-Suche (health professional search) and Datenmanagement for data clearing and integration. The product portfolio is unified by the shared data foundation of the Strukturverzeichnis, which also enables commissioned analyses for healthcare landscape studies.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Arzt-Auskunft: Comprehensive directory of physicians, dentists, therapists, clinics, and pharmacies in Germany to help patients find appropriate healthcare providers.
• Publizistik-Preis
• Gütesiegel / Zertifizierung
• Dr. Pro Bono

Products and services

• Arzt-Auskunft Comprehensive physician and healthcare provider directory covering the German healthcare system, enabling patients to search for physicians, dentists, psychotherapists, clinics, rehabilitation facilities, medical care centers, pharmacies, and non-physician health professionals. Features a multilingual AI chatbot, advanced filtering by specialty, opening hours, accessibility features, and online appointment booking. Free for consumers.
• Arzt-Auskunft for Websites & Apps (White-Label)

Quantifiable outcome

• 60 million annual searches on Arzt-Auskunft
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability4 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Flying Health / Forte Digital / Wort & Bild VerlagminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 22 April 2026The foundation co-hosted a networking breakfast at the DMEA 2026 trade fair in Berlin with Flying Health, Forte Digital, and Wort & Bild Verlag, featuring keynote presentations and networking opportunities for healthcare IT professionals.
• Allianz GesundheitsweltcoreOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing PartnerAllianz Gesundheitswelt has been licensing the Arzt-Auskunft for nearly 20 years to integrate doctor and clinic search functionality into its health portal, providing patients with quick and straightforward access to healthcare provider information.
• Techniker Krankenkasse (TK)coreOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing PartnerThe Techniker Krankenkasse, one of Germany's largest statutory health insurers, uses Arzt-Auskunft Professional for insured-person advisory services and has integrated the search tool on its platform, describing the foundation as a reliable partner.
• Various Health Insurers (Licensing Partners)coreOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing PartnerNearly all major statutory and private health insurers in Germany use the Strukturverzeichnis and/or Arzt-Auskunft, embedded on their own websites, in apps, or as professional advisory tools. These license partnerships represent the primary revenue stream for the foundation.
• Fördergemeinschaft der Stiftung GesundheitcoreOthersThe support association (Fördergemeinschaft) has been operating since 1999, collecting membership dues and donations to fund specific projects of the foundation such as the Barrierefreie Praxis (Accessible Practice) initiative and subsidizing certification services. Both the foundation and the Fördergemeinschaft are recognized as charitable organizations.
• Deutsche Allianz Klimawandel und Gesundheit e.V. (KLUG)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerKLUG commissioned the foundation to survey heat protection measures in medical facilities. Results were presented twice at the German Medical Congress (Deutscher Ärztetag), contributing to policy recommendations for physicians.
• Bundesverband Gesundheits-IT (bvitg e.V.)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe bvitg commissioned a preview study on digital projects in outpatient care. The association's CEO contributed a guest commentary to the foundation's Im Fokus survey on digitalization and AI tools.
• Wort & Bild VerlagminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Wort & Bild Verlag (publisher of Apotheken Umschau and other health magazines) commissioned internal monitoring of the e-prescription rollout and is a co-host of the DMEA networking breakfast event.
• Opta Data Zukunfts-StiftungminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Opta Data Zukunfts-Stiftung commissioned a survey on the future of the physiotherapist profession.
• Bundesministerium für Arbeit und Soziales (BMAS)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAs part of the Barrierefreie Praxis project, accessibility information from the Arzt-Auskunft is integrated into the BMAS portal einfach-teilhaben.de, supporting accessible travel and healthcare access information for people with disabilities.
• Deutsche Bahn and ÖPNV OperatorsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerIn the namo – nahtlos mobil (seamlessly mobile) project, the Fördergemeinschaft provided accessibility information for doctor practices to a consortium including Deutsche Bahn and public transport operators, enabling barrier-free travel planning to medical facilities across Germany.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCnB_3vCzBf0753RRuJl3qOQ
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/stiftung-gesundheit
• Xx.com/StiftungGesund
• Facebookfacebook.com/stiftung.gesundheit

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Stiftung Gesundheit