www.perinatalzentren.org now with understandable results data from all centers
02.12.2015 13:52
Expectant parents and referring physicians can now view the treatment quality outcome data of all hospitals approved for the care of premature infants with very low birth weight on the website www.perinatalzentren.org. The Federal Joint Committee (G-BA) announced this on Tuesday in Berlin.
The website www.perinatalzentren.org offers anyone interested the opportunity to sort hospitals according to specific criteria. These include the risk-adjusted caseload of a perinatal center, the overall survival rate of premature infants, and their survival without serious illness. Hospitals can also be selected by name, region, and distance from the respective place of residence.
"As of December 1, 2015, all perinatal centers are now required to publish their outcome data on this central internet platform. Based on the evaluation of the initial phase with voluntary participation, which began in July 2013, we were able to improve the information's comprehensibility for laypeople and its overall user-friendliness. This allows us to provide expectant parents and referring physicians with comprehensive and understandable quality data as a basis for decision-making and as a guide in a situation where they must choose a suitable maternity clinic," said Dr. Regina Klakow-Franck, impartial member of the Federal Joint Committee (G-BA) and chair of the relevant subcommittee on quality assurance.
The data basis for the internet platform, which the AQUA Institute created on behalf of the G-BA, is information on the quality of treatment provided by 222 hospitals over the last five years of data collection, from 2010 to 2014. From January 1, 2016, the Institute for Quality and Transparency in Health Care (IQTIG) – also on behalf of the G-BA – will be responsible for operating the website.
The Federal Joint Committee (G-BA) had already decided to publish the outcome data on the treatment quality of perinatal centers on a dedicated internet platform in July 2013. Hospitals were initially able to submit their outcome data there voluntarily, before being required to do so as of December 1, 2015, in accordance with G-BA regulations.
In Germany, around 9,000 children are born each year with a birth weight of less than 1,500 grams, who require intensive, high-quality medical care in specialized hospitals.