[The relevance of quality of life for the work of the Federal Joint Committee]

As the highest decision-making body of the joint self-government of physicians, dentists, hospitals and health insurance funds in Germany, the Federal Joint Committee (G-BA) is responsible for determining the catalogue of benefits for those insured by statutory health insurance (SHI) funds. The G-BA uses patient-relevant, health-related quality of life outcomes as a decision criterion in the assessment of new examination or treatment methods, the benefit assessment of new pharmaceuticals, the quality assurance of services, and in determining treatment goals for disease management programmes and special forms of care. But the data generally available on quality of life are considered insufficient by the G-BA. Studies submitted for methods assessments or the benefit assessments of pharmaceuticals often lack findings on quality of life, or the data are of limited value due to methodological shortcomings. Because the burden of disease is shifting more and more towards chronic and oncological diseases due to demographic changes, the G-BA considers an improvement in the data available on health-related quality of life to be urgently necessary.