[Jury prize of the Austrian National Prize 2018 : 12 years European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) at the University Eye Clinic Graz].

Background: The European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) approach has been successfully implemented in healthcare but reports about EFQM awards at university clinics are lacking so far. Can a non-profit organization, such as a university eye department successfully compete with profit companies from industry for the National Prize of the Federal Ministry for Innovation and Business in Austria?

Material And Methods: Following successful committed to excellence (C2E) assessments in 2008 and 2010, a 70-page corporate report was compiled strictly according to the EFQM logic (latest version 2013), consisting of basic concepts, criteria matrix and results/approach/deployment/assessment and refinement (RADAR) logic, which formed the basis for an 1‑day assessment in 2018. Special emphasis was laid on the development and presentation of the strategy by means of the X‑matrix (according to Hoshin-Kanri) between the University Eye Department and its shareholders, the Styrian Hospital Association (KAGes) owned by the Federal State of Styria and the Medical University financed by the Austrian State Federal Ministry.

[Qualitative analysis of lean management in healthcare: perspectives of Austrian and Swiss experts].

Rationale, Aims And Objectives: The hospital sector is under considerable pressure to change. On the one hand, demographic change plays an important role and, on the other hand, the rapid development of medicine and nursing care can be attributed to the pressure to change. The Lean Management concept, which originated in the automotive sector, represents a successful management method for meeting these growing challenges.

[Successful implementation of the EFQM management model at the Department of Ophthalmology in Graz].

Background And Objective: In the context of legal requirements and scarcer resources, the implementation of a quality management (QM) model will provide a competitive advantage or a site warranty for a hospital. For 3 years, the Department of Ophthalmology in Graz has been working with the EFQM model and has now accomplished the first level quality award, namely "Committed to Excellence (C2E)". The project work towards achieving this C2E-award is described below.

Misguided surveillance: physicians' roles in medical care assessment. Part II.

In his article last month, Mr. Gliebe showed that no consensus has been reached on what the indicators of quality of medical care are actually measuring. In this article, he emphasizes that judgments of overuse or misuse of ancillary services and laboratory tests cannot be made without first judging quality of care, yet quality measurement capabilities are minimal.

Misguided surveillance: public actions and medical care assessment.

The public has accused physicians of overusing or misusing ancillary services and clinical laboratory tests, and government agencies have been entrusted to help eliminate performance of these so-called unnecessary services. Here, the author documents the confused and contrary evidence that became the basis of established public policies toward monitoring physician performance or behavior. In next month's issue, the author will examine physicians' roles in medical care assessment.