[Physicians' documentation behaviour and (non-)fulfillment of quality indicators in outpatient care of children and adolescents - A qualitative analysis].

The research project "Evaluation of quality of care in routine outpatient care for common childhood and adolescent diseases" (QualiPäd) measures the quality of care for seven common somatic and psychiatric diseases in children and adolescents based on a set of consensual and evidence-based quality indicators developed specifically for this purpose. Analyses of patient files of pediatricians, general practitioners and child and adolescent psychiatrists showed that in some cases, due to lack of information in the patient records, fullfillment of some of the quality indicators could not be measured or the degree of fulfillment of the quality indicators was found to be low. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to identify system-, physician- and patient-related factors that influence documentation in patient records as well as (non)fulfillment of quality indicators.

Internal validation of self-reported case numbers in hospital quality reports: preparing secondary data for health services research.

Background: Health services research often relies on secondary data, necessitating quality checks for completeness, validity, and potential errors before use. Various methods address implausible data, including data elimination, statistical estimation, or value substitution from the same or another dataset. This study presents an internal validation process of a secondary dataset used to investigate hospital compliance with minimum caseload requirements (MCR) in Germany.

A theoretical framework for linking hospitals longitudinally: demonstrated using German Hospital Quality Reports 2016-2020.

Background: In longitudinal health services research, hospital identification using an ID code, often supplemented with several additional variables, lacks clarity regarding representativeness and variable influence. This study presents an operational method for hospital identity delimitation and a novel longitudinal identification approach, demonstrated using a case study.

Methods: The conceptualisation considers hospitals as evolving entities, identifying "similar enough" pairs across two time points using an automated similarity matrix.

Association between continuity of care and treatment outcomes in psychiatric patients in Germany: a prospective cohort study.

Background: Continuity of care is considered an important treatment aspect of psychiatric disorders, as it often involves long-lasting or recurrent episodes with psychosocial treatment aspects. We investigated in two psychiatric hospitals in Germany whether the positive effects of relational continuity of care on symptom severity, social functioning, and quality of life, which have been demonstrated in different countries, can also be achieved in German psychiatric care.

Methods: Prospective cohort study with a 20-months observation period comparing 158 patients with higher and 165 Patients with lower degree of continuity of care of two psychiatric hospitals.

[People with intellectual disabilities (ID) in outpatient medical care: barriers to access and treatment process].

Background And Aim: People with intellectual disabilities (ID) show an increased morbidity. Their access to healthcare could be a contributing factor, but there is little data on this in Germany. This paper addresses the question of what barriers and facilitators exist in the use of medical outpatient healthcare for people with ID, considering their own perspective and the perspectives of their accompanying relatives and their general practitioners (GPs).