Kvalitetsregister

Kvalitetsregister, commonly translated as quality registers, are systematic, often nationwide, collections of standardized data about care processes, treatments, and patient outcomes for defined medical conditions or procedures. They are designed to track and improve the quality of health care by enabling measurement, comparison, and analysis across providers and over time.

Purpose and use: They support monitoring of treatment outcomes and safety, adherence to guidelines, and patient-reported outcomes where available; they enable benchmarking between hospitals or regions; they help identify variation in care, guide quality improvement initiatives, and inform clinical guidelines, policy decisions, and research.

Data and governance: Data are typically drawn from electronic health records and registry forms completed by clinicians or patients. Registries use standardized data definitions to allow valid comparisons. Privacy and data protection are central: registries often anonymize or pseudonymize data, with access controlled. Use for research typically requires ethics approval and, when appropriate, patient consent, and compliance with GDPR.

Operation: Institutions participate voluntarily or by mandate; registry coordinators provide regular feedback reports and public dashboards with performance indicators. Data linkage with other health information systems is common to track long-term outcomes and to support population-level analyses.

Examples: In Sweden, quality registers are widely used. Notable examples include the Swedish Knee Arthroplasty Register (SKAR), RiksStroke, and the National Diabetes Register (NDR). National coordination often involves collaboration between healthcare regions, professional associations, and national authorities.

Impact and challenges: When well implemented, kvalitetsregister can improve patient safety, standardize care, and increase transparency. Challenges include incomplete data, reporting burden, variable data quality, interoperability issues, and ongoing concerns about privacy and governance.