[Quality assurance in geriatric medicine]

This article describes the peculiarities of geriatric quality assurance from the view of a clinical setting. Description of structural elements of quality are well known. Improvements in process quality of individual patient care have been sustained by controlled studies on comprehensive geriatric assessment. However, implementation of results from comprehensive assessment into external rating systems for hospital accreditation/certification still needs further research. The documentation of product quality depends on the measurement of patients' independency, activities of daily living and subjective well being.