Since the mid 1990 s, the statutory pension insurance agencies have develop
ed and begun to implement a broad program for quality management in the fie
ld of medical rehabilitation. A total of 942 rehabilitation clinics from al
l areas of indication, including the field of psychosomatic rehabilitation,
are currently participating in the program. In its first program point, th
e 5-point program deals with the collection and analysis of structural and
conceptual aspects. Program point 2 deals with the documentation of therapy
plans for the primary treatment groups; in program point 3, clinical docum
entations are used for a quality screening (peer review procedure), and in
point four, patient satisfaction and treatment results will be evaluated by
patient interviews. The analysis of inadequacies performed within these pr
ogram points will be returned to the clinics by means of an information sys
tem. Thus, the clinics receive information on the conditions in their own c
linics against the backdrop of results From clinics with similar structures
. The quality problems which are identified, wilt be dealt with in the fram
ework of quality circles (program point 5). This article describes and disc
usses the specifications of the quality assurance program for the field of
psychosomatic rehabilitation.