Geriatric Fracture Centre (German Trauma Society): Guidelines and certification to improve geriatric trauma care

Abstract

Because of demographic changes and the increasing proportion of orthogeriatric patients, the German Trauma Society (DGU) established a certification process for geriatric fracture centres (AltersTraumaZentrum DGU®). This article is a detailed illustration of the certification process and the related Registry. The main goal of the certification is to support orthogeriatric comanagement and to improve the quality of care for geriatric patients. The requirements of the Criteria Catalogue force participating centres to continuously survey and improve their standards and structures. As a result, the requirements should lead to a high quality of care. To prove that the certification leads to higher quality of care, the DGU started a Geriatric Fracture Registry (AltersTraumaRegister DGU®) in 2016, which is obligatory for all certified centres. Studies on comanaged care and the improvement of quality by certified geriatric fracture centres are planned. Further health-care research will also be possible with the collected data.