Development and validation of potential structure indicators for clinical infectious disease (ID) care in German hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic

Introduction: This study describes the development and validation of structure indicators for clinical infectious disease (ID) care in German hospitals, which is important to adequately face the future challenges in ID medicine.Methods: A team of experts developed the structure indicators in a three-stage, multicriteria decision-making process: (1) identification of potential structure indicators based on a literature review, (2) written assessment process, and (3) face-to-face discussion to reach consensus and final selection of appropriate structure indicators. A field study was conducted to assess the developed structure indicators. A score based on the structure indicators was determined for each hospital and validated via receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curves using externally validated ID expertise (German Society of ID (DGI) Centre).Results: Based on a list of 45 potential structure indicators, 18 suitable indicators were developed for clinical ID care structures in German hospitals. Out of these, ten key indicators were defined for the general and coronavirus disease 2019-(COVID-19-) specific clinical ID care structures. In the field survey of clinical ID care provision for COVID-19 patients in 40 German hospitals, the participating facilities achieved 0 to 9 points (median 4) in the determined score. The area under the ROC curve was 0.893 (95% CI: 0.797, 0.988; p < 0.001).Discussion/Conclusion: The structure indicators developed within the framework of a transparent and established development process can be used in the future to both capture the current state and future developments of ID care quality in Germany and enable comparisons.

Automated summary

This study develops and validates structure indicators for clinical infectious disease (ID) care in German hospitals, which is important for facing future challenges in ID medicine. A team of experts identified and selected 18 suitable indicators, including 10 key indicators for clinical ID care structures. The developed indicators can be used to assess and compare the quality of ID care in Germany.