4.2 Communication and marketing

Communication between employees, data exchange and regular reporting should be organised in a way that is comprehensible to everyone in the hospital.

Reports should be forwarded in a timely manner to the departments inside and outside the hospital that are responsible for the patient's treatment or care. The reports must reflect the facts, be complete and comprehensible, but limited to what is necessary.

The reports should present the performance results across all professional groups. The scope of reporting by the departments to the management should be defined. The management should summarise the reports and make them available internally - also as a working basis.

Reports should be given to bodies that summarise treatment data and use it to gain insights into the effectiveness and safety of procedures, such as cancer registries.

The management must ensure that a constructive climate of objectivity and openness is created and maintained within the hospital and between the hospital and the public through a comprehensive exchange of information. This includes measures that facilitate and promote communication between departments, professional groups and individual employees.

Communication with patients, their relatives, the attending physicians and the funding organisations must be maintained. The public image of the hospital must be promoted.

A summarised report should present the hospital's services in a comprehensible manner.

The principles of confidentiality should be observed towards employees, patients and their relatives. The statutory regulations on data protection and confidentiality must be observed.

The management should use procedures to recognise changes in the expectations of patients and referring physicians at an early stage. It must ensure that its measures and the actions of its employees are comprehensible to patients. Patients should receive clear information about their treatment, the outcome and the next steps.

Employees should be equipped with communication techniques and facilities that promote understanding and cooperation at all levels, across professional groups and beyond departmental boundaries. They must be aware of the problems involved in transmitting information.

An appropriate technical information system is an essential tool for communication. Suitable telecommunications equipment, such as cordless telephones on wards and for people who do not have a fixed location in the building, fax machines, intranet, call systems and up-to-date telephone directories should be made available and maintained.