Computer-assisted feedback-driven quality management for psychotherapy: The Stuttgart-Heidelberg model

The authors present the Stuttgart-Heidelberg Model for quality management o f psychotherapy. The system is characterized as an active internal approach with external support from researchers. Problem solving activities are ini tiated and maintained by computer-assisted feedback on possible treatment s hortcomings. The system provides support for the 3 key tasks of quality man agement: (a) monitoring of relevant quality criteria in the clinical routin e, (b) standardized assessment that allows comparison with established stan dards at various levels of service provision, and (c) transfer of informati on on achieved quality to those whom it concerns. The central function of t he system is an alarm function, signaling a possible deficit of the provide d psychotherapy on the basis of the standard evaluation of treatment outcom e for individual patients. In this article, the main system components are described and data on its feasibility and validity are presented.