As a non-profit association, the IQM is organised in various committees: The general meeting acts as the highest governing body and is responsible for appointing and discharging the board of directors, the directors and the management. The actual technical work takes place in the three IQM committees Indicators, Peer Review and Transparency as well as in the scientific board.
The Indicators, Transparency and Peer Review committees along with their associated steering groups provide the board of directors with input and work to improve the quality methodology. Experts from IQM member hospitals and neutral partners work to actively develop and improve the IQM quality methodology. The committees consist of expert representatives from different IQM members and operators.
The Indicators expert committee is responsible for the scope and methodology of measuring quality with routine data. Existing quality indicators are consistently refined and improved, new indicators with agreed target values are introduced and their effectiveness is reviewed. The Indicators expert committee consists of quality management officers, medical controllers and chief physicians with experience in national and international quality management in the member hospitals.
The Indicators expert committee and steering group are headed by Prof. Dr. Olaf Kannt, Paediatrician and Medical Consultant to the Group Management, Helios Klinken GmbH.
The Transparency expert committee defines how, when, in what scope and at what interval the IQM results are published and sets IQM standards for joint media relations. It is responsible for the standardised publication of IQM member clinics’ scores on their own websites. The shared media codex for IQM members ensures that results are published in a manner appropriate for facilitating healthy competition for optimal medical outcomes. The committee’s experts are made up of the persons responsible for media and public relations, marketing and/or quality management at the member clinics.
The Transparency expert committee and steering group are headed by Prof. Dr. Holger Holthusen, Medical Director, Knappschaft Kliniken GmbH.
The Peer Review committee is focused on the design, planning and execution of IQM peer reviews. It defines IQM standards and rules for the peer review process, and it evaluates and prepares the results of the reviews in a structured manner. The expert committee is made up of quality managers, clinically active chief physicians or other persons who have the necessary expertise and recognition within their institution to implement the expert committee’s decisions in their clinic. The Peers expert group includes senior physicians and nurses with management responsibilities.
Prof. Dr Irit Nachtigall is a specialist in anaesthesiology with additional qualifications in intensive care medicine, emergency medicine, infectiology and hospital hygiene. She is a professor of infectious diseases and hygiene and director of the Institute of Hygiene and Environmental Medicine in the Vivantes Health Network. Since February 2026, she has been the head of the Peer Review committee and the Peer Review steering group.
