gms | German Medical Science

Quality, orientation towards patient's needs, and efficiency are considered to be constituent parts of good health care. In germany, the "Institut für Qualität und Wirtschaftlichkeit im Gesundheitswesen" will advise the "Gemeinsamer Bundesausschuss" in order to implement legal regulations. A decent quality management system is clearly needed to balance the rising economic pressure. Registered ophthalmologists having their own practices are confronted with a wide variety of different options and offers. On the other side, quality assurance techniques in hospitals are easier to introduce and finance. With dissolving borders between inpatient and outpatient care, health care partners have to agree on methods of quality management they consider to be necessary or profitable. Health care processes must be better planned, coordinated and controlled by clinical pathways, reflecting medical process management. Further components that will be needed are: learning organizations, clinical risk management, useful practice guidelines and reliable performance indicators.