Further steps for more targeted quality assurance
23.05.2023 17:37
The Federal Joint Committee (G-BA) has taken a further step to make so-called data-supported quality assurance more efficient and more targeted. When developing new procedures, those medical service areas that are highly prone to errors or in which many patients would be affected by deficiencies should be systematically identified and included.
The basis will be a scientific concept developed by the Institute for Quality Assurance and Transparency in Healthcare (IQTIG). It should be available by January 2025 at the latest. The commission decided today is part of the process that has been initiated to make data-supported quality assurance procedures more efficient. The G-BA has already made a decision regarding the instrument of sample-based quality inspections in medical practices, which is also aimed at resource-saving and care-relevant data collection: Due to persistently positive results, computer tomography (CT) will no longer be tested in the future.
Karin Maag, impartial member of the G-BA and responsible for quality assurance, said: “I am convinced that we can give quality assurance a real boost with more targeted data collection and that the associated effort will be better accepted. The same applies to quality assurance itself: a lot doesn't always help a lot. The scientific concept commissioned today is intended to support us in exactly this. Good and accepted quality assurance depends on us regularly checking whether instruments and test orders are useful. If there are convincing results in the long term - i.e. a high quality of care as is now the case with computer tomography - there is no reason why tests should not be done. Because that’s what quality assurance is all about: a targeted use of resources with the greatest possible benefit.”
IQTIG is developing a new concept for future procedures in data-supported quality assurance
In addition to the actual concept development, the agreed order for IQTIG also includes a one-off test to test the proposed path for practical application. The aim is to develop a methodology that continuously identifies those areas of care in which there are relevant quality deficits or where a high level of benefit for patients is expected. At the same time, relevant goals for quality assurance should also be systematically determined.
No more quality checks for CT thanks to good results
The work of randomly selected resident doctors has been checked for several years in four radiological service areas using random samples: conventional X-ray diagnostics, computer tomography, magnetic resonance imaging and arthroscopy. The reference points for this are the G-BA's quality assessment guidelines for arthroscopy, magnetic resonance imaging and radiology. They provide the framework for the analysis of technical and content-related quality deficiencies in order to identify a possible need for further development. Since consistently positive results have been recorded when using computer tomography in recent years and even a temporary suspension of the examinations has had no negative effect, the G-BA believes that it is justified to no longer review this area of performance and thus to abolish it.
The decision to change the radiology quality assessment guidelines will now be examined by the Federal Ministry of Health within two months. Provided there are no legal objections, it can come into force upon publication in the Federal Gazette.
Background: data-supported quality assurance
The G-BA develops so-called data-supported quality assurance procedures with which the quality of medical patient care can be measured, presented and compared across institutions. The results from the data analysis help service providers to assess and improve their quality of treatment in comparison with others. With a resolution from spring 2022, the G-BA began to review existing data-supported quality assurance procedures in order to make them simpler, more practical and less costly. The normative basis is the guideline for data-supported cross-institutional quality assurance (DeQS-RL).