Endometriosis centres and quality management

Endometriosis is a frequent and clinically relevant disease. It affects the quality of life and reduces the ability of work. Patient complaints are uncharacteristic, differential diagnosis is difficult and the therapeutic options are symptomatic-this is true for surgical procedures and medication as well. Quality improvement in the management of endometriosis should be achieved through basic research and better interdisciplinary cooperation in the wide area of diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. Centres specialised in treating endometriosis can be certified by external audit in Germany since 2006. Criteria for the structure of such centres, for cooperation and for clinical pathways have been defined by the Stiftung Endometriose-Forschung together with the Endometriose-Vereinigung Deutschland e.V. and Europäische Endometriose-Liga. In addition to the multidisciplinary treatment of the patients, the centres must teach and qualify both physicians and other medical staff as well as inform the patients and the public to improve awareness of this disease. Up to now methods are missing in Germany to compare the results of treatments by benchmarking for example. A similar situation can be observed in other European countries. © 2010 Springer Medizin Verlag.