Benefits and challenges in practice-oriented psychotherapy research in Germany: The TK and the QS-PSY-BAY projects of quality assurance in outpatient psychotherapy

Strauss, Bernhard Michael; Lutz, Wolfgang; Steffanowski, Andres; Wittmann, Werner W.; Boehnke, Jan R.; Rubel, Julian; Scheidt, Carl E.; Caspar, Franz; Vogel, Heiner; Altmann, Uwe; Steyer, Rolf; Zimmermann, Anna; Bruckmayer, Ellen; Von Heymann, Friedrich; Kramer, Dietmar; Kirchmann, Helmut (2013). Benefits and challenges in practice-oriented psychotherapy research in Germany: The TK and the QS-PSY-BAY projects of quality assurance in outpatient psychotherapy. Psychotherapy research, 25(1), pp. 32-51. Routledge 10.1080/10503307.2013.856046

Text Strauss et al. 2013_Benefits and Challenges.pdf - Published Version Restricted to registered users only Available under License Publisher holds Copyright. Download (414kB) | Request a copy

Objective: Two patient-focused long-term research projects performed in the German outpatient psychotherapy system are focused on in this article. The TK (Techniker Krankenkasse) project is the first study to evaluate a quality assurance and feedback system with regard to its practical feasibility in German routine care. The other study (“Quality Assurance in Outpatient Psychotherapy in Bavaria”; QS-PSY-BAY) was designed to test a new approach for quality assurance in outpatient psychotherapy using electronic documentation of patient characteristics and outcome parameters. In addition this project provides the opportunity to analyze data on health-related costs for the patients undergoing outpatient psychotherapy. Method: Both projects and their results indicating high effect sizes are briefly described. Results: From the perspectives of the research teams, advisory boards and other stakeholders, the experiences with these projects are discussed focusing on obstacles, challenges, difficulties, and benefits in developing and implementing the studies. The triangle collaboration of therapists, researchers, and health insurance companies/health service institutions turned out to be fruitful in both studies. Conclusions: Despite some controversies between the partners the experiences indicate the importance of practiced-research collaborations to provide relevant information about the delivery of outpatient psychotherapy in the health system

Interest & Impact

Downloads

6 since deposited on 19 May 2014
0 in the past 12 months

Citations

5 Citations in Web of Science ®
6 Citations in Scopus

Search

in Google Scholar™

Services

Actions (login required)

Edit item

Actions (login required)

Edit item