[Hospital quality measurement—what matters?].

In Germany, the aims of hospital quality measurement have evolved from intra-professional quality assurance via organisational quality improvement to public reporting. Recently, quality-based purchasing is also discussed as a political option. These developments lead to new requirements for quality measurement which have gained little attention so far. Quality indicators have to become more comprehensive, more outcome-related, and more tamper-resistant. Furthermore statistical limitations of quality measurement related to low case numbers may impair quality assessment and therefore have to be considered in political discussions. In many cases the use of administrative data allows for the measurement of meaningful endpoints and is less prone to manipulation than separate data collections. Also, it allows for the extension of quality measurements to other medical conditions without causing additional effort. Bearing costs and benefits in mind, the use of administrative data might be the only way to establish nationwide long-term outcome measurements. Using administrative data also enables the advancement of provider-independent quality measurement. This may cause political controversies. Irrespective of future political regulations, new outcome-related quality measurements already have been shown to contribute to improving hospital care, if used in internal quality management systems.