Development of the certification process for organ cancer centers and oncology centers of the German Cancer Society

With the establishment of the certification system for oncology care structures, a vision of a comprehensive, interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary care of cancer patients has been implemented in clinical practice and the fulfillment of these certification requirements is reviewed by audits. The article describes how the certification system has steadily evolved in recent years both in a framework towards a 3-stage model of cancer care as well as in the opportunities for continuous quality improvement in clinical practice. With the development of indicators that reflect the guideline recommendations, the requirements for the interdisciplinary cooperation and the professional expertise of the centers, it has been possible to assess the quality of oncological care in certified centers. Not only the centers use the results for internal quality improvement but also the certification and guidelines commissions and the interested public can benefit from the overall analysis in annual reports. Moreover, by integrating the patient perspective in form of nationwide surveys, an additional level of information is opened and with benchmark workshops based on the results of the surveys, a continuous evolution of the structures and processes will be achieved.