title: [The project of the Techniker-Krankenkasse: some comments on the results by the project's scientific advisory board].
abstract: The Project of the Techniker Krankenkasse compared 2 systems of quality assurance in outpatient psychotherapy, the established peer review system based on qualitative individual case reports and a new model based on psychometric assessment and feed-back systems. In this publication the members of the project advisory board comment on the results and limitations of the study. 400 psychotherapists in private practice participated in a cluster-randomized comparison study, 200 were allocated to the intervention group, and 200 to the control group. In both groups assessments were performed at 3 points in time, one at the beginning of treatment, one at the end of treatment and one at follow-up 12 months post-treatment. No significant differences in psychotherapeutic outcome were observed in the 2 groups. The hypothesis of a better outcome associated with the psychometric assessment and benchmarking procedure was not confirmed.
authors.affiliation: Abteilung für Psychosomatische Medizin und Psychotherapie, Universitätsklinik Freiburg. carl.eduard.scheidt@uniklinik-freiburg.de
authors.forename: Carl Eduard
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Scheidt
authors.forename: Josef
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Brockmann
authors.forename: Franz
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Caspar
authors.forename: Gerd
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Rudolf
authors.forename: Ulrich
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Stangier
authors.forename: Heiner
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Vogel
mesh_terms: D000553:Ambulatory Care / Q000592:standards*; D019985:Benchmarking; D005858:Germany; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D010380:Peer Review; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011594:Psychometrics; D011613:Psychotherapy / Q000592:standards*; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care; D012107:Research Design; D016896:Treatment Outcome