[Quality assurance in the field of psychosomatic rehabilitation]

Since the mid 1990s, the statutory pension insurance agencies have developed and begun to implement a broad program for quality management in the field of medical rehabilitation. A total of 942 rehabilitation clinics from all areas of indication, including the field of psychosomatic rehabilitation, are currently participating in the program. In its first program point, the 5-point program deals with the collection and analysis of structural and conceptual aspects. Program point 2 deals with the documentation of therapy plans for the primary treatment groups; in program point 3, clinical documentations are used for a quality screening (peer review procedure), and in point four, patient satisfaction and treatment results will be evaluated by patient interviews. The analysis of inadequacies performed within these program points will be returned to the clinics by means of an information system. Thus, the clinics receive information on the conditions in their own clinics against the backdrop of results from clinics with similar structures. The quality problems which are identified, will be dealt with in the framework of quality circles (program point 5). This article describes and discusses the specifications of the quality assurance program for the field of psychosomatic rehabilitation.