Quality assurance in inpatient treatment of depression. Aspects of quality monitoring and external quality assurance exemplified by a pilot project of inpatient treatment of depression

Aspects of a Pilot Study on Depression Treatment According to Quality Monitoring and External Quality Assurance: Experiences and results of a pilot study on quality of the treatment of depressed inpatients in 4 different psychiatric hospitals (2 state mental hospitals, 1 university clinic, 1 psychiatric clinic at a city general hospital) according to so-called process and outcome quality, are reported. Outcome data (self-ratings, observer rating, clinical global impression admission versus discharge, patient satisfaction with treatment, duration of inpatient stay/and patient data are reported while comparing the 4 hospitals. Difficulties and problems of data collection, assessments and comparison of 4 different hospitals are discussed.