Shifting cancer care towards Multidisciplinarity: the cancer center certification program of the German cancer society

Background: Over the last decades numerous initiatives have been set up that aim at translating the best available medical knowledge and treatment into clinical practice. The inherent complexity of the programs and discrepancies in the terminology used make it difficult to appreciate each of them distinctly and compare their specific strengths and weaknesses. To allow comparison and stimulate dialogue between different programs, we in this paper provide an overview of the German Cancer Society certification program for multidisciplinary cancer centers that was established in 2003. Main body: In the early 2000s the German Cancer Society assessed the available information on quality of cancer care in Germany and concluded that there was a definite need for a comprehensive, transparent and evidence-based system of quality assessment and control. This prompted the development and implementation of a voluntary cancer center certification program that was promoted by scientific societies, health-care providers, and patient advocacy groups and based on guidelines of the highest quality level (S3). The certification system structures the entire process of care from prevention to screening and multidisciplinary treatment of cancer and places multidisciplinary teams at the heart of this program. Within each network of providers, the quality of care is documented using tumor-specific quality indicators. The system started with breast cancer centers in 2003 and colorectal cancer centers in 2006. In 2017, certification systems are established for the majority of cancers. Here we describe the rationale behind the certification program, its history, the development of the certification requirements, the process of data collection, and the certification process as an example for the successful implementation of a voluntary but powerful system to ensure and improve quality of cancer care. Conclusion: Since 2003, over 1 million patients had their primary tumors treated in a certified center. There are now over 1200 sites for different tumor entities in four countries that have been certified in accordance with the program and transparently report their results from multidisciplinary treatment for a substantial proportion of cancers. This led to a fundamental change in the structure of cancer care in Germany and neighboring countries within one decade

Gloss control in injection moulding

International audienc

Gloss control in injection moulding

International audienc

Influence des conditions de mise en oeuvre sur les caractéristiques des pièces injectées en composites à matrice thermostable renforcée de fibres de verre courtes

PARIS-MINES ParisTech (751062310) / SudocALBI-ENSTIMAC (810042301) / SudocSudocFranceF

Full scale wear study of polymer injection moulding tool surface

International audienc

Heidelberger Meilenstein Kommunikation (HeiMeKOM) – Erfahrungen, Best Practice Beispiele und Empfehlungen aus dem Abschluss-Symposium am 30./31. Januar 2020

The National Cancer Plan emphasises the importance of medical communication and calls for its integration into medical education and training. In this context, the Milestone Communication Approach meets the communicative challenges in dealing with lung cancer patients. Interprofessional tandems, consisting of doctors and nurses, conduct structured conversations at defined moments with patients and their relatives. The concept aims at shared decision making, continuity in the care of lung cancer patients and the early integration of palliative care. During the symposium on the Heidelberg Milestone Communication in January 2020, recommendations on the care situation of lung cancer patients in advanced stages were developed. In addition, the further adaptability of HeiMeKOM to other settings and hospitals and to other diseases was discussed as well as the possibility of implementing such a concept in standard care. This article presents the experiences, best practice examples and recommendations discussed during the symposium in order to enable their extrapolation to other similarly oriented projects. The long-term goal is to transfer the milestone concept to other hospital, primarily certified lung cancer centers, and to ensure permanent funding. For further dissemination of the concept and, above all, to have it established in standard care, health policy awareness and support are required in addition to the integration of the concept in competence catalogues of continuing medical and nursing education

Patterns of care and follow-up care of patients with uveal melanoma in German-speaking countries: a multinational survey of the German Dermatologic Cooperative Oncology Group (DeCOG)

Purpose Uveal melanoma (UM) is an orphan cancer of high unmet medical need. Current patterns of care and surveillance remain unclear as they are situated in an interdisciplinary setting. Methods A questionnaire addressing the patterns of care and surveillance in the management of patients with uveal melanoma was distributed to 70 skin cancer centers in Austria, Germany and Switzerland. Frequency distributions of responses for each item of the questionnaire were calculated. Results 44 of 70 (62.9%) skin cancer centers completed the questionnaire. Thirty-nine hospitals were located in Germany (88.6%), three in Switzerland (6.8%) and two in Austria (4.5%). The majority (68.2%) represented university hospitals. Most patients with metastatic disease were treated in certified skin cancer centers (70.7%, 29/41). Besides, the majority of patients with UM were referred to the respective skin cancer center by ophthalmologists (87.2%, 34/39). Treatment and organization of follow-up of patients varied across the different centers. 35.1% (14/37) of the centers stated to not perform any screening measures. Conclusion Treatment patterns of patients with uveal melanoma in Germany, Austria and Switzerland remain extremely heterogeneous. A guideline for the treatment and surveillance is urgently needed

Faustzahlen für den Ökologischen Landbau

Die Faustzahlen bieten einen kompakten Überblick über den Ökologischen Landbau. Ob pflanzliche oder tierische Erzeugung, Lagerung und Vermarktung, Betriebsfüh-rung oder Biodiversität – die Faustzahlen liefern auf fast alle Fragen der Praxis eine Antwort. Dieses Buch gewährt Einblick in die besonderen Bedingungen des Ökolandbaus, vor allem in seine Kosten- und Leistungsstrukturen, aber auch in seine Möglichkeiten mit Herausforderungen umzugehen, wie z. B. Nährstoffversorgung oder Unkrautdruck. Ob es um Überschlagsrechnungen oder Vorplanungen geht, dieses Nachschlage-werk schließt Lücken, wenn eigene Daten und Erfahrungen fehlen. Die Inhalte sind in Tabellen strukturiert, in Grafiken veranschaulicht und in kurzen Texten erläutert. Die „Faustzahlen für den Ökologischen Landbau“ sind unentbehrlich für alle, die es genau wissen wollen. Die 760-seitige Schrift ist als Printversion für 30 € und als digitale Version für 27 € beim Kuratorium für Technik und Bauwesen in der Landwirtschaft (KTBL) e.V. er-hältlich. In der digitalen Version lassen sich Zahlen und Fakten online recherchieren und Verlinkungen direkt aufrufen