[Quality in public health. Deficits, concepts and political quality key issues from the ministerial viewpoint].

To preserve the quality of the German health care system as well as continuously optimize it towards the needs stated by ethics and law, an inter-professional and inter-institutional quality policy is required. It should be patient-centered, focus on process management and be based on EN ISO-Standards adapted to the specific needs of health care. The latter could provide internationally compatible models for quality management and quality improvement including economic efficiency. The 40 nation Council of Europe's 5th European Conference of Health Ministers in Warsaw as well as the 69th Conference of German Federal State Health Ministers (GMK) at Cottbus, who tackled the issue in November 1996, pointed out essential aspects. The GMK stated a lack of effective general concepts, quality control and patients' rights protection in Germany. Both conferences demanded equity, social justice and an active participation of patients in the setting of quality standards and the conception, functioning and control of health care. This includes rationalisations by using the limited funds in a most effective way.