ABSTRACT
Due to legal regulations, external quality assurance is mandatory in Germany. Supported by the German Health Ministry (BMG), we present the results of a multicenter study in four hospitals with different structures on 1042 inpatients with the tracer diagnosis of schizophrenia (ICD 10). We defined disease-specific indicators of structure, process, and outcome quality, developed an assessment instrument, and implemented a feedback system for quality comparison. The resulting quality profiles are useful as a starting point for internal quality management.
Subject(s)
Hospitals, University/standards , Inpatients/statistics & numerical data , Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care/methods , Quality Indicators, Health Care , Schizophrenia/therapy , Acute Disease , Antipsychotic Agents/administration & dosage , Female , Germany , Hospitals, University/statistics & numerical data , Humans , Length of Stay , Male , Patient Satisfaction , Recurrence , Retrospective Studies , Total Quality Management/methodsABSTRACT
PURPOSE: In Germany, measures for assuring the quality of inpatient treatment are regulated by legislation. Treatment quality must be presented in comparison with other hospitals. Tracer diagnosis is an established method for external quality assurance in the sphere of somatic medicine. METHOD: To evaluate this method of external quality assurance in psychiatry, the German Society for Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Nervous Diseases (DGPPN) defined and operationalised quality indicators for the treatment of schizophrenic inpatients. RESULTS: of a multicentre project supported by the German Federal Ministry of Health (BMG) using this inventory in 96 schizophrenic inpatients (ICD-10) from 4 hospitals are presented. The qualification of these indicators of structure, process and outcome while comparing the treatment quality of different hospitals as well as their applicability for internal quality management are discussed.
