title: First Dutch Consensus of Pain Quality Indicators for Pain Treatment Facilities.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  There is a general consensus about the need to define and improve the quality of pain treatment facilities. Although guidelines and recommendations to improve the quality of pain practice management have been launched, provision of appropriate pain treatment is inconsistent and the quality of facilities varies widely. The aim of the study was to develop an expert-agreed list of quality indicators applicable to pain treatment facilities. The list was also intended to be used as the basis for a set of criteria for registered status of pain treatment facilities.
  
  
  METHODS
  The University Pain Center Maastricht at the Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Management of the Maastricht University Medical Center conducted a 3-round Delphi study in collaboration with the Board of the Pain Section of the Dutch Society of Anesthesiologists (NVA).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Twenty-five quality indicators were selected as relevant to 2 types of pain treatment facilities, pain clinics and pain centers. The final expert-agreed list consisted of 22 quality indicators covering 7 quality domains: supervision, availability of care, staffing level and patient load, quality policy, multidisciplinarity, regionalization, and research and education.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This set of quality indicators may facilitate organizational evaluation and improve insight into service quality from the perspectives of patients, pain specialists, and other healthcare professionals. Recommendations for improvements to the current set of quality indicators are made. In 2014 the process of registering pain treatment facilities in the Netherlands started; facilities can register as a pain clinic or pain center.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology & Pain Management, Maastricht University Medical Centre, University Pain Center Maastricht, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Nelleke
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: de Meij
authors.affiliation: Dutch Society of Anesthesiology, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Marloes
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: van Grotel
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology & Pain Management, Maastricht University Medical Centre, University Pain Center Maastricht, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Jacob
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Patijn
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine/CAPHRI, School for Public Health and Primary Care & Maastricht University Medical Centre, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Trudy
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: van der Weijden
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology & Pain Management, Maastricht University Medical Centre, University Pain Center Maastricht, Maastricht, The Netherlands.|Department of Anesthesiology & Pain Management, VUmc Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Maarten
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: van Kleef
mesh_terms: D032921:Consensus; D003697:Delphi Technique; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D009426:Netherlands; D009934:Organization and Administration; D018710:Pain Clinics / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards*; D059408:Pain Management / Q000592:standards*; D010147:Pain Measurement; D058996:Quality Improvement; D019984:Quality Indicators, Health Care; D012106:Research / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D000078329:Workforce
keywords: consensus statement; pain assessment; pain centers; pain clinics; quality indicators