The Hamburg Asklepios Clinics, Deutschland - video

Top Quality

At Asklepios, we attach the highest priority to the medical quality of our work.

We have installed an excellent quality management system at all locations within the Group to ensure the best possible quality of results, as well as patient safety and satisfaction.

The significant number of awards and certificates from professional medical associations and specialised test institutes are witness to the fact that this effort bears fruit. Asklepios Kliniken regularly receive excellent ratings far above the industry average in nationwide comparisons. Here, Asklepios publishes the Group-wide data and test results in regard to medical quality and patient safety, as well as patient and referrer satisfaction, for public consumption on the Internet.

Data on results quality

Do I receive competent treatment in line with the latest insight from medical science?

Can I feel safe in the clinic, and will I receive good care?

Every patient will ask these questions before deciding on a clinic. We publish our annual "Report on the Quality of Medical Results" to give you a glimpse behind the scenes and to help you assess the quality of our work. In this report, we present certain focus areas as examples and provide detailed explanations of the individual quality metrics and their individual significance for patient safety and treatment quality. The matching data from all Asklepios Kliniken are then presented and listed in a transparent form. By publishing this report on results quality, Asklepios Kliniken go far beyond the statutory requirements in Germany and can therefore stake a claim to quality leadership in the national clinic landscape.

Learning from the best

Open disclosure of data from the quality management system and the consequent comparability of medical services and results lead to constant improvement in all areas. Doctors and clinics learn how to improve their own standards based on regular benchmarking with the best performers within the Group. This procedure has proven effective, leading to exceptional results quality and patient safety in increasing numbers of areas.

Second opinion principle 

Obtaining a second opinion is not just a method of dealing with uncertainty, it can also indicate alternative treatment strategies that may produce a better outcome. At Asklepios, we endorse and support the principle of obtaining a second medical opinion for this reason. Patients will always find someone else to consult in these cases at Asklepios. Afterwards, we discuss the colleague's proposals with the patient and indicate the advantages and disadvantages of the various options. In turn, doctors at Asklepios support their patients in obtaining a second expert opinion on their treatment strategy.

High standards

Besides the work of physicians and nursing staff, the medical devices such as synthetic joints, stents or pacemakers are key to the success of medical treatment.

Strategic purchasing experts at Asklepios review the quality of medical devices before concluding framework agreements with manufacturers. We consistently audit adherence to our strict quality standards to ensure that our patients can always rely on their medical implants – be it an artificial joint or a cardiac pacemaker.

Continuous improvement is the goal

Quality management means more than just constantly checking and maintaining the same level of quality. Continuous, critical appraisal of the treatment processes and medical results reveals any hidden weaknesses and reliably indicates possible improvements that continue to raise the quality of our results and your satisfaction as our patient.

Innovation & Research

Innovation and clinical research are the drivers of medical progress, ensuring that we all receive the best possible treatments in future as well. Asklepios is synonymous with the highest standards of medical treatment quality. This is why we foster research, innovation and science. Only in this way can we ensure that we continue to provide our patients with the best possible healthcare.

Clinical research advances the cause of medicine and ensures patient safety. Without clinical trials it would be impossible to tell which treatments will best help which patients and which of them will provide no benefits or might even be detrimental.

An example: the development of new, highly effective pharmaceuticals in recent years has not only significantly improved the chances of surviving almost all types of cancer, it has also improved the patients' quality of life during treatment. But the benefits and safety of these pharmaceuticals need to be tested in extensive clinical trials before they are introduced to routine treatment regimes and hence placed at the disposal of all patients. Voluntary participation in these trials is possible at many Asklepios Kliniken as well. This means that our patients can benefit early on from innovative active agents and treatment procedures – long before they are made generally available. That is not the only advantage: participants in clinical studies also receive closer monitoring. After all, the purpose of these trials is to identify all effects and side-effects and to create precise logs.

Professional management of clinical trials 

The Site Management Organisation Asklepios proresearch coordinates all clinical trial and development projects within the Group in order to ensure that they are performed in line with professional standards. Asklepios proresearch has connected medicine and science in the Group clinics since 1998, supporting over 400 research and development projects each year with specialists from all disciplines and for all indications in the proprietary outpatient trial centre and on-site in the Group clinics.

In this way, more than 4,000 patients benefit from innovative procedures in diagnosis and therapy each year.

Research and teaching

Cooperating closely with the Asklepios Medical School Campus Hamburg at Semmelweis University Budapest, experts from Asklepios proresearch are in charge of the scientific strategy at Asklepios and for the continued expansion of research focuses in the areas of preventative and care research. They collate the results in a bi-annual research report, collect measurable performance indicators in regard to research findings and manage internal research funding in the form of the Innovation Fund at Asklepios Kliniken Hamburg.

Internal research funding

Asklepios Kliniken Hamburg use the annual internal investment fund of up to two million euros to finance carefully selected and high-quality research projects. Asklepios proresearch is responsible for selecting the auspicious treatment methods in close cooperation with an interdisciplinary research commission. It also provides support during the project and conducts a downstream review to assess the extent to which the envisaged objectives were achieved. Its work focuses on the provision of promising seed financing, the expansion of sustainable research infrastructure and the strengthening of research profile focuses at Asklepios Kliniken. In this regard, research is not restricted to particular departments or institutes; on the contrary, it is specifically designed to be organised around interdepartmental, clinic and sector cooperation.

An example: the surgical robot system da Vinci Xi at Asklepios Klinik Hamburg-Altona is not reserved exclusively for the departments at the clinic, it is explicitly intended for use by experts at other Asklepios Kliniken as well. Classic trials will now be completed to ascertain in which cases robot-assisted surgery can indeed provide relevant medical and commercial advantages, and how the benefits of this innovative technology can best be deployed, despite its extremely high operating costs.

Moreover, the internal promotion of research via proresearch also supports cooperation between the Asklepios Medical School Campus Hamburg and Semmelweis University Budapest, in particular by funding the ACH Chairs, currently in oncology and visceral medicine.

Adress: 

Asklepios Kliniken GmbH & Co. KGaA
Rübenkamp 226
22307 Hamburg
Germany

Contact:

Phone: +49 (40) 18 18-82 66 96
Fax: +49 (40) 18 18-82 67 99
zentrale@asklepios.com

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