title: Quality assessment in prostate cancer centers certified by the German Cancer Society.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  In 2008, the German Cancer Society certification program for prostate cancer centers (PCCs) was introduced, fostering multidisciplinary and interprofessional cooperation. Since then, 97 PCCs have been certified. This paper describes the PCC certification program, quality indicators (QI) that are reported during certification, as well as changes over time and correlates of QI fulfillment.
  
  
  METHODS
  Observational data from 70,683 primary prostate cancer (PCa) cases treated between 2010 and 2013 in certified PCC sites are analyzed using descriptive and correlation analyses.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Fulfillment of the requirements is high with over 80 % of the sites fulfilling the requirements for most of the presented QIs with defined target values. Fulfillment increased slightly over time, with significant improvements in conducting multidisciplinary tumor conferences (increasing proportion of cases presented pre- and post-treatment, increasing participation of specialists), psycho-oncologic care, social service counseling and research participation. Bivariate associations between hospital characteristics and QIs observed were most distinct for time since first certification.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Results suggest that the PCC certification program presented contributes to establishing multidisciplinary teams over time and assures the provision of high-quality PCa care. However, differences in fulfillment of the requirements exist with regard to hospital characteristics beyond the scope of the certification system.
authors.affiliation: German Cancer Society, Kuno-Fischer-Straße 8, 14057, Berlin, Germany. kowalski@krebsgesellschaft.de.
authors.forename: Christoph
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7438-4321
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kowalski
authors.affiliation: OnkoZert GmbH, Certification Institute of the German Cancer Society, Gartenstr. 24, 89231, Neu-Ulm, Germany.
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ferencz
authors.affiliation: University Hospital Düsseldorf, Moorenstraße 5, 40225, Düsseldorf, Germany.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Albers
authors.affiliation: Johanniter Hospital Oberhausen, Steinbrinkstr. 96, 46145, Oberhausen, Germany.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fichtner
authors.affiliation: University Hospital Ulm, Albert-Einstein-Allee 23, 89081, Ulm, Germany.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wiegel
authors.affiliation: Federal Association of German Prostate Cancer Patient Support Groups, Thomas-Mann-Str. 40, 53111, Bonn, Germany.
authors.forename: Günter
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Feick
authors.affiliation: German Cancer Society, Kuno-Fischer-Straße 8, 14057, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Simone
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wesselmann
mesh_terms: D002173:Cancer Care Facilities / Q000592:standards*; D002568:Certification; D005858:Germany; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000628:therapy; D019984:Quality Indicators, Health Care; D012955:Societies, Medical
keywords: Certification; Multidisciplinarity; Prostate cancer; Quality indicators