title: [Quality recommendations of the German Society of Rheumatology. Basis for further responsibilities].
abstract: The manual "Qualitätssicherung in der Rheumatologie" is a consensus based thesaurus of diagnostic and therapeutic guidelines. The Committee for Quality Assurance in the German Society of Rheumatology proposes a plan for further activities in this field. The revision and updating of the manual was already begun, which will be continued and shall be Internet-based in the near future. Guidelines with topics of interdisciplinary interest (e.g. low back pain, ankylosing spondylitis) are to be unified. In order to achieve a broader consensus, practicing physicians and self-help organizations of patients should be asked to review the guidelines. Some controversies in clinical rheumatology are to be solved in prospective studies. Whereas the manual is kept as a body of reference for rheumatologists, a practice guideline "joint swelling" will be developed according to recommended criteria for appraisal of guidelines.
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Keitel
mesh_terms: D005858:Germany; D006801:Humans; D009313:National Health Programs; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care; D012219:Rheumatology
vernacular_title: Qualitäts-Empfehlungen der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Rheumatologie: Basis für weitere Aufgaben.