Lesson 10.2 · 3 min
§ 26 Quality management: voluntary
Open in the coursewith narrated slides, a checklist to tick off and a quiz
At a glance
- Voluntary. Seven aspects of quality management, planned or in place, each voluntary unless the law already requires it.
- No deficiency. Answers on § 26 never count as a deficiency. ÖQMED only analyses them in aggregate.
In detail
What § 26 asks about
Whether the practice or group practice has, each voluntarily and unless the law already requires it, § 26
- quality management systems,
- participation in disease management programmes,
- participation in cross-organisation projects on patient safety and risk management,
- practice management software,
- participation in quality circles,
- diagnosis documentation with coding, and
- patient surveys
planned or in place.
What happens to your answers
Results on § 26 never count as a deficiency; ÖQMED analyses them in aggregate § 31(2). Aggregated and anonymised, they go into the BIQG's quality report § 46(2) no. 7. A remediation order can therefore never rest on § 26.
Why it's worth it anyway
Some duties in this course get easier with these tools: a patient survey can give feedback on waiting times (§ 21(3)), a quality circle helps you learn from adverse events (§ 23), and practice software helps with records (§ 17).
Checklist
- You know which of the seven aspects are planned or in place in your practice.
- You know that § 26 never counts as a deficiency.
Quiz
What follows if your practice has none of the § 26 aspects planned or in place?
- The certificate is refused
- A remediation order with a four-week deadline
- An on-site visit
- No deficiency; ÖQMED only analyses the answers in aggregate
Show the answer
The answer is D: No deficiency; ÖQMED only analyses the answers in aggregate. § 31(2): results on § 26 don't count as a deficiency and are analysed by ÖQMED in aggregate.
Sources
This lesson's statements rest on:
Not legal advice. What counts is the text of the QS-VO 2024 in the Federal Legal Information System (version of 3 October 2026) and the Austrian Medical Chamber's Hygiene Regulation 2014. Not an offer of ÖQMED, the BIQG or the Medical Chamber.