[Experiences with external quality assurance in gynecologic surgery]

A project, 'Quality Management in Gynecological Surgery', was developed as an external means of quality management in gynecological surgery and tested in 44 clinics in 1994. The external comparison of clinics generally demonstrated the high quality of the services, but certain aspects of these services exhibited an extremely high variability, for instance as far as thrombosis prevention and the choice of the routes of access for defined interventions are concerned. The positive effects of the project were that the clinics used the comparative data provided by the project as a basis to modify the management processes and thus improved the quality of their services. On the other hand, the external comparisons uncovered the need for guidelines for the management of patients. It will now be the responsibility of the gynecological societies to establish such guidelines and communicate them to their members via the appropriate channels.