ESTEEM: a European telematic project for quality assurance within clinical neurophysiology

From the prospective multi-center evaluation study of the decision support system KANDID, significant variations were revealed in local epidemiology, local examination techniques, local preferred examination protocols, and local diagnostic criteria among seven European EMG laboratories. A clinical network of eight Electromyographic (EMG) centers has, due to this study, harmonized terminology and the interpretation of EMG examinations. The ESTEEM project has, based on these specifications, developed the EMG-Platform for the local data acquisition, storage, interpretation, and telecommunication between the clinical ESTEEM centers. On this basis, a medical audit and consensus process across Europe is being carried out on a daily basis. This process has shown an impact on diagnostic criteria within the clinical group. This study has illustrates informatics as a necessary prerequisite for the quality assurance of clinical EMG practice.