[Strategies for classification of rehabilitation clinics based on structural equality]

Comparison between clinics is a basic part of most quality assurance programmes. The classification of structurally similar clinics is a prerequisite for enabling comparisons between clinics according to quality criteria. As a part of the programme point 1 "structural quality" of the Pension insurance quality assurance programme in medical rehabilitation, a procedure was developed to classify clinics into structurally similar groups. For this purpose the data of the structure survey of the quality assurance programme was used. The first step was to check whether existing classification systems could be used, which made the need for a new classification procedure apparent. The 942 participating clinics were clustered according to a successive differentiation system employing only quality-neutral criteria, e.g., the indication group, the number of different indications, the part of AHB, number of beds, and the therapeutic focus. Further differentiation beyond indication group was necessary for the indications orthopaedics, cardiology, psychosomatics, addiction and neurology. The procedure is demonstrated using the indications orthopaedics and cardiology as examples.