Type of Project: Funded project
Quality Assurance in the Rehabilitation Process of the German Statutory Accident Insurance System a project associated to the Rehabilitation Research Network of Bavaria

Background The project about quality assurance in the rehabilitation process of the German Statutory Accident Insurance System was initiated in October 1998 by the "Bundesverband der Unfallkassen (BUK)" in cooperation with the Institute of Psychotherapy and Medical Psychology" at the University of Würzburg. Since spring 1999 the research project has been associated to the Rehabilitation Research Network of Bavaria. Goal and process The goal of the project is to evaluate the multiple existing experiences with quality assurance in rehabilitation and to create a conceptual framework for quality assurance in the rehabilitation process of the German Statutory Accident Insurance which suits the organisational peculiarities and the characteristic patient structure. In the statutory accident assurance the term "rehabilitation" is used in a broader sense than in the other branches of the German social insurance system. It applies for the rehabilitation of patients after work- related injuries and diseases, which comprises the treatment in the acute stage as well as the phases of medical, occupational, and social rehabilitation. So the whole "chain of rehabilitation" is taken responsibility by one insurance system. In the first phase of the project, the main emphasis was on quality assurance for the in-patient medical rehabilitation. In this area we can use the experiences of other insurance systems, for example the quality assurance program of the German statutory pension insurance. Different starting-points for quality assurance in the rehabilitation of the statutory accident insurance have been worked out to be discussed with clinical experts and officials in charge of rehabilitation of work-related injuries. Special attention must be paid to the coordination with other branches of the social insurance system to avoid double workload for the rehabilitation clinics which would be produced by the participation in different extern quality assurance programs.