Submitted text
Medical registries are an important basic instrument for quality assurance in healthcare. Their economic benefit is also not inconsiderable when it comes to strengthening efficiency and effectiveness in healthcare. In view of the great importance of medical registries, the Federal Council will Assigned to check, in which area of Swiss health care registries existwhich are to be strengthened in their completeness and quality, which other registers for implementing the national quality strategy have priority in terms of content and timing from the federal government’s point of view, who should be commissioned to draw it up, and how funding is to be secured.
Justification
In its Report “Concretization of the Confederation’s Quality Strategy in the Swiss Health Care System”. on May 25, 2011, the Federal Council postulated the introduction of national Quality Register. As a priority topic for a quality program 2011 – 2014, he wants to increase safety in invasive interventions with various surgical/orthopedic registries. In addition, he notes deficiencies in the coverage, completeness, and uniformity of existing registries. Despite the great importance of medical registries for the quality of care and treatment, problems such as quality, lack of willingness to participate on the part of health care providers and lack of obligation on their part, as well as the financing of registries, remain an ongoing issue. Existing registries, e.g., the Amis Plus, the cantonal cancer registries, the AQC registry, etc., have difficulties, among others, with the insufficient completeness or uniformity of data collection. If the Confederation now wishes, rightly and also as a mandate from Parliament, to increasingly assume its responsibility under Article 58 KVG in quality assurance and to act in a leading and coordinating capacity, then the appropriate foundations must also be created for the exercise of this leading role with binding registers.
Statement of the Federal Council of 29.8.2017
In the report on the implementation of the quality strategy approved by the Federal Council on May 25, 2011, quality registers are mentioned as one of various instruments for determining quality indicators. The improvement of framework conditions is cited as a measure to promote them. In addition to the objective of quality assurance, there are also other objectives of medical registries such as epidemiology (as a basis for the development and evaluation of prevention and early detection measures and to support care planning) and research. The subject of medical registries is very broad in view of the various objectives and different users, the complexity of the data collection processes, data pooling, data protection and assurance of registry quality, as well as with regard to obligations to collect data while at the same time taking into account the right to informational self-determination. Maintaining registries is costly, which is why the Cost-benefit analysis is to be carried out carefully.
On behalf of the Federal Council, the Federal Office of Public Health is developing a legal basis for the uniform registration of cancer throughout Switzerland. In addition, it is being examined whether it is sensible, feasible and financially viable to create national registries for other diseases as well. On the part of the Association of Swiss Physicians FMH, an overview of the medical registries available in Switzerland has been compiled (http://www.fmh.ch/themen/qualitaet/forum_medizinische_register.cfm). With regard to the promotion of medical registers for quality assurance, the Federal Council basically supports the concern of the postulate. In accordance with the quality strategy, it is Ready to explore the topic conceptually.