TY - JOUR T1 - Assessment of German national lung cancer guideline quality indicators in routine practice – Does the new TNM-system make a difference? JF - European Respiratory Journal JO - Eur Respir J VL - 38 IS - Suppl 55 SP - p4424 AU - Torsten Blum AU - Jens Kollmeier AU - Nicolas Schönfeld AU - Wim Ammenwerth AU - Sandra Delis AU - Wolfram Grüning AU - Wiebke Nehls AU - Torsten T. Bauer Y1 - 2011/09/01 UR - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/38/Suppl_55/p4424.abstract N2 - Background: Quality assurance is an essential tool for assessing and optimizing quality of care. For that purpose, the German national lung cancer guideline (GL), published in 2010, has defined nine quality indicators (QI). So far, neither these QI have been prospectively evaluated, nor corresponding reference intervals have been specified. Furthermore, no evidence exists for the practicability of the QI concerning the utilization of the new TNM-system (UICC 7).Methods: All patients with a first diagnosis of lung cancer (FD), admitted to our lung cancer centre between 01.01.2008 and 31.12.2009, were included into this study. Data collection has been performed prospectively using our tumour documentation system (TDS) and hospital information system (HIS). In a retrospective analysis two groups were defined in which the patients were staged by the old UICC 6 (FD in 2008) and the new UICC 7 (FD in 2009) staging system, respectively.Results: Patients' characteristics were similar in both groups (2008: 595 pt.; 2009: 641 pt.). For 7 out of 9 QI a result could be determined according to the defaults of the GL (example: tab.1)View this table:Conclusions: In this study we were able to completely assess 7 out of 9 QI proposed by the GL exclusively on the basis of routine data of our TDS and KIS. These data will not only help to improve the quality of care in our lung cancer centre but also allow first conclusions on the undetermined reference intervals of the GL-QI. However, the GL-QI should be further evaluated within a prospective, multicentric study. ER -