Obtain patient perspective on care

17.08.2022 14:32

What experiences have patients had before, during and after a cardiac catheter procedure? What do they say about the course of treatment – for example, were the examination and results well explained? On behalf of the Federal Joint Committee (G-BA), patients who have had a catheter procedure in hospitals or doctors' practices are asked to provide answers to such questions. The aim is to gain a further perspective on the quality of care in addition to existing data sources.

The information is incorporated anonymously into the G-BA's existing quality assurance procedure for diagnostic and therapeutic cardiac catheter procedures (percutaneous coronary intervention and coronary angiography, PCI). Since August 2022, corresponding questionnaires have been sent by the sending point, here the company data experts, to patients who recently underwent a cardiac catheter procedure. PCI is the first procedure in which patient surveys are used as a quality assurance tool.

This is how the process works

In order for patients to receive the questionnaires by post and to take part in the survey, these steps are necessary:

• Since July 1, 2022, medical practices and clinics have been obliged to submit monthly the address details of patients who have had a cardiac catheter procedure. There is also information about the type of intervention and the service provider. This data is first encrypted and pseudonymized at the respective data collection point. They then go to the mailing point that sends the questionnaires.
• The shipping point randomly selects a sample; If there are fewer than 200 cases per year per treating doctor, all patients are interviewed in the PCI procedure for data protection reasons. The selected patients will receive the questionnaires asking them to participate up to 12 weeks after their PCI procedure. The letters also contain information on how to handle the data collected.
• The letters to the patients are enclosed with a stamped envelope to be sent to the questionnaire acceptance point. This office scans the completed questionnaires so that the Institute for Quality Assurance and Transparency in Health Care (IQTIG) can evaluate the questionnaires in its function as the federal evaluation body. In addition, those contacted may be reminded several times about the survey.
• The IQTIG returns the evaluated, anonymized results of the survey to the respective institution annually. The service providers receive standardized feedback from their patients and any abnormalities related to the facility are pointed out. This means that private practices and clinics can improve their processes if necessary. Doctor-patient communication should also be optimized, which ideally leads to shared decision-making and increases treatment success.

Further patient surveys for other medical interventions and procedures are to follow as part of quality assurance - scientific work at IQTIG is already underway. Depending on the clinical picture and the patient group affected, it will be examined whether digital survey channels can be used instead of postal mail.

Establish data flows and implement processes by the end of 2022

The G-BA plans to test and optimize the new patient survey instrument by 2026, accompanied by IQTIG. By the end of 2022, the first priority will be to establish the new data flows for the PCI patient survey and to check whether the process works technically and logistically. The assessment of abnormalities according to the established procedures is only planned from 2024.