This repository contains data and analysis code to reproduce results from the article "Estimating the causal effect of a quality assurance program on quality of care in Germany" published in BMC Health Services Research.
The R script to reproduce all analyses from the article can be found in the /R folder. Results are exported to /results.
In the /data folder, the file data_indicators.csv contains all data used to produce the results. These are the annual observations of national-level quality indicator results in the observation period from 2013 to 2020 for all indicators in the analysis (final analysis data set).
| Column name | Explanation | Official German name |
|---|---|---|
| year | Year of observation | Erfassungsjahr |
| indic_id | Unique public ID of quality indicator | ID |
| indic_descr | Verbal description of quality indicator | Indikatorbezeichnung |
| indic_type | Type of quality indicator (P: Process; I: Indication) | Indikatorart |
| clin_area | Clinical area of quality indicator | Leistungsbereich |
| o | Number of observed events | Ergebnis: Zähler |
| n | Population size | Ergebnis: Nenner |
| o_adverse | Number of observed events, rescaled as adverse care events (i.e., reverse coded in case indicator originally measures favorable events) | - |
| group | Treatment group of quality indicator | - |
| n_hospitals | Number of hospitals with a quality indicator result (not included for year 2013, as hospital unit was defined differently) | Anzahl der Krankenhäuser mit mindestens einem Fall |
In the alternative data set in data/data_hospitalreports.csv, the same column names apply. The additional column 'hospital' contains the hospital ID (Institutionskennzeichen).
R session info (from R/compute_results.R) can be accessed here.