Cooperative leadership as a condition for patient-reported rehabilitation success

INTRODUCTION: Rehabilitation is a complex intervention that takes place in a complex setting. The MeeR project (characteristics of successful rehabilitation facilities) aims to identify complex conditions of successful rehabilitation outcomes. METHODS: A project with a sequential mixed-methods study design with a quantitative prestudy and a qualitative main study was applied. In the quantitative study, quality assurance data of the German Pension Insurance was used to (1) develop and compute a multifacet z-standardized outcome index based on patient-reported outcome data, (2) rank k = 273 orthopedic rehabilitation facilities comprising n = 112,895 patients and k = 86 cardiac rehabilitation institutions comprising n = 30,299 patients based on their outcome index score by means of a league table, and (3) adjust the ranking by basic patient characteristics (age, gender, diagnosis, weeks out of work prior to rehabilitation, application for pension). In the qualitative main study, k = 6 rehabilitation facilities (orthopedic and cardiac rehabilitation centers) were recruited based on the results of the quantitative analysis: three facilities that ranked top 10% and three facilities that ranked lowest 10% of the adjusted league table. All six rehabilitation facilities were visited each for 1 week by two researchers. We conducted participant observations, expert interviews with medical and administrative leaders, group discussions with rehab team members, and group discussions with patients. Subsequently, a systematic comparison of the results of the upper and lower 10% facilities was conducted to identify those characteristics that distinguished those institutions from one another. RESULTS: One of the three clusters of characteristics that distinguished the above and below 10% facilities related to teamwork or interdisciplinary cooperation: among others, the extent of interdisciplinary cooperation was higher in the rehabilitation facilities with a higher degree of success, the leading medical doctors were less dominant in these institutions, and there was also a more comprehensive representation of the team within team meetings, i.e., the quality and amount of interdisciplinary cooperation were higher in these institutions compared to rehabilitation facilities with a lower level of success. DISCUSSION: This project provided qualitative evidence for the role of interdisciplinary cooperation and collaborative leadership and its different facets for patient-related successful rehabilitation in orthopedic and cardiac rehabilitation. It provides valuable insights into the fabric and structure of a rehabilitation institution and a variety of target points for team development and group-leading interventions.