[Peer review of routine clinical case reports - an instrument of quality management? Results of a pilot investigation].

A scoring system for quality assessment of neurological routine case reports was developed in cooperation with the Quality Management Commission of the German Neurological Society (DGN). Five clinical departments of neurology submitted eight anonymized reports for each of seven tracer diagnoses (CNS hemorrhage, ischemic infarction in the anterior circulation, epilepsy, Parkinsonism, bacterial CNS infection, multiple sclerosis (initial diagnosis), polyneuropathy) which were reviewed by two neurologists from different departments. The reports reflect differences between departments concerning certain procedures, especially technical investigations and the use of standardized scores. Interrater reliability was low. However, there were significant and meaningful differences between departments, which can be used for quality improvement. The approach can be recommended for use in peer audits between hospitals.