Table 1.

Stages of rehabilitation treatment standards development.

Stage	Rehabilitation treatment standards
1	Systematic literature search including existing national and international guidelines on recommendations for evidence-based therapies of particular diseases
2	Preliminary definition of therapeutic modules and comparison with therapeutic services rendered during rehabilitation as specified by the Pension Insurance’s classification system KTL. Rehabilitative treatment is documented using KTL codes in the rehabilitation centres’ discharge reports and relayed to the Pension Insurance. Evaluation of these data makes it possible to compare the actual health care delivered in each centre with the requirements specified.
3	Patient survey by means of focus groups
4	a) Written expert survey of members of medical professional associations and all relevant professions involved in the rehabilitation process; sur vey results form the basis for a systematic consensus building process with regard to the selection of modules, their content, and their relevance for rehabilitation b) Development and consenting of a RTS pilot version by an expert committee (experienced rehabilitation clinicians and relevant representatives of respective professional associations)
5	Implementation and evaluation of the RTS pilot version in selected rehabilitation centres