AOK compass helps with clinic selection

AOK Report helps with clinic selection

12/01/2013

The health insurance AOK has examined in a study the quality of knee, hip and gall bladder surgery in hospitals in the Rhineland. There were big qualitative differences.

Distinct differences in the Rhineland
According to a recent hospital report of the AOK Rheinland / Hamburg, there is a clear difference in the quality of the hospitals in the Rhineland. The health insurance company analyzed data on knee, hip and gall bladder surgeries for the report and examined how often complications or even follow-up operations occurred within one year after surgery.

Over 40,000 operational data evaluated
Although the AOK has conducted and published similar investigations in the past, no general trend for the better can be seen. The report evaluated data from 43,500 surgeries in 143 hospitals in the years 2009-2011. But the range of medical quality in the Rhineland is according to Matthias Mohrmann, board member of the AOK Rheinland / Hamburg, large. For example, there have been no complications at the best hospitals after planned hip joint surgery, so „The worst hospitals show additional complication rates of up to ten percent after discharge from hospital alone.“

Good latches when removing gallbladder
In the removal of gallbladder there are many good clinics in the Rhineland. The AOK evaluated the results of 133 latches in which at least 30 AOK members were operated on. 23 of the examined clinics performed better than average, for example the St. Vinzenz Hospital in Dinslaken, the Sana-Klinikum in Remscheid or the St. Josefs Hospital in Hilden. On average, 89 hospitals and 21 did poorly.

Complication rate in latches very different
Of the 101 hospitals where knee surgery was performed, 13 percent are among the above-average and are thus among the 20 percent of the best clinics in Germany. However, 21 percent underperformed. The differences become clear when one considers the complication rate, ie revision surgery or mortality. In the very good houses, this was 57 percent lower than the bad latches.

Different reasons for hip surgery
The AOK distinguishes between hip replacements for the promptly needed interventions after a bone fracture and the scheduled implantation of an artificial hip joint, which is necessary due to wear and tear. Both categories include the hospital „Mary of the Apostles“ in Mönchengladbach-Neuwerk to the top group. The report found that there were 15 times fewer complications in hip surgery in the best clinics than in the worse ones.

No hospital in all areas good
There is no hospital that performs equally well in all areas. According to the AOK report, the St. Vinzenz hospital in Düsseldorf is one of the best clinics in the Republic of Germany for hip fractures, but gallbladder removal due to gallstones and the onset of an artificial knee joint are the worst. The situation is similar at the St. Willibrord Hospital in Emmerich-Rees, which is one of the best in a hip fracture and one of the last in the other categories. The manager of the hospital, Johannes Hütte, explained that the results did not coincide with the internal quality controls. But you take them very seriously.

Criticism of clinic operators
Hut and other clinic operators criticize the methodology of the evaluation. At present, even clinics in a trial suit are suing the AOK Hospital Navigator, which publishes the evaluated billing data. „The scientific method is intransparent“, so hut. The validity of the analysis is also doubted at the St. Vinzenz Hospital in Düsseldorf. It would be problematic if only the data of AOK insured persons are used. The AOK exercises in serenity and hopes for the new federal government. „It would be nice if the legislature made the legal basis even clearer“, Matthias Mohrmann In addition, the AOK would like to see closer cooperation with the good hospitals. In addition Mohrmann: „That would be better for humans and also more economically rational, because there would be less cost for post-operations.“ (Ad)

Picture: JMG