[Are quality criteria in oncologic surgery for financing (case account totals or special reimbursement) helpful?]

Criteria of surgical quality in oncological operations are: number of removed lymph nodes, perioperative complications, lethality, local recurrence rate, tumor stage related survival rate and the quality of life postoperatively. The length of the operation time as well as the length of the in hospital stay cannot be regarded--different to other surgical procedures--as quality parameters in oncological surgery. In order to guarantee a realistic financing of surgical interventions with a high quality standard the project "Operative Oncology" was initiated by the Department of Surgery University of Kiel in 1996. Therefore, the treatment costs for various oncological operations were calculated according to the Patient Management Path (PMP) system. Between 4/98 and 12/98 245 patients have been proceeded according to the evaluated comprehensive prices. The first intermediate evaluation of 130 cases showed that the calculated flat rates seem to be realistic.