The Patients' View On Accredited Breast Cancer Centers: Strengths and Potential for Improvement

Breast Care Centers that were accredited according to the German Cancer Society criteria were offered to participate in a standardized patient survey in 2010, which was conducted by the Institute for Medical Sociology, Health Services Research and Rehabilitation Science, Faculty of Human Science and Faculty of Medicine, University of Cologne. Patients were included consecutively between March and November 2010. The Cologne Patient Questionnaire-Breast Cancer (CPQ-BC) was used, which assesses a number of aspects of hospital care as perceived by the patients, among them provider-patient interaction, the disease-specific information provided, the quality of organization, and room amenities. 128 of 195 Breast Care Centers and 160 of 251 hospitals participated in the study. 8226 patients consented to the survey. The questionnaires of 7301 patients could be included in the analyses (89 %). Overall, the results showed that patients are satisfied with their hospital stay and that the accreditation criteria are implemented in a way that serves the patients. However, there is room for improvement for a number of issues, for example with regard to the provision of information and patient involvement in decision making. In addition, for a number of indicators substantial differences were found between the hospitals. The results of the survey provide information on the breast centers' development and can be used by the centers' surgery locations for benchmarking purposes, to identify strengths and weaknesses, and to take actions.