gms | German Medical Science

Background: With the Psycho-Oncological Basic Documentation (PO-Bado, 2004) a practicable and valid tool is provided for the assessment of psychological and somatic distress in patients with cancer. In a further step, we have now developed a new form for documenting the psycho-oncological services provided to the patient as a supplement to the PO-Bado. A multicenter documentation form for the services provided is needed to assess and compare the services with regard to settings and disease characteristics for health care planning. Furthermore, the need of a standardized and comprehensive documentation arises from the demand for cost transparency.

Methods: A documentation form for psycho-oncological service was developed (PO-Bado/L) on the base of expert discussion. It includes 22 items for recording the kind of services (diagnostic, psycho-social interventions, psychotherapeutic interventions, and administrative tasks) their frequency and duration. Further data are patient’s sociodemographic characteristics, the sum-score for somatic and psychological distress from the PO-Bado, somatic and mental ICD-10 diagnosis, and data regarding the end of intervention and further treatment are also included. To facilitate comparison the items follow existing inpatient and outpatient documentation forms, in particular the CL-Bado (Söllner et al 2005). A manual guides the coding of the PO-Bado/L. The documentation was tested by professionals providing psycho-oncological care. Ratings of the users were recorded with regard to the practicability and utility of the form, and their specific suggestions for modifications were asked.

Results: Results will be presented from the ongoing testing and pilot study, which concludes at the end of 2005. Ten psycho-oncological care units from various oncological settings participated. We will report on the psycho-oncological service documentation, the user’s ratings, and data for the modes and quantity of psycho-oncological services provided in different oncological settings and to specific patient and disease characteristics.