Certification of Vascular Centres

The German Society for Vascular Surgery and Vascular Medicine, coordinated by the Private Academy DGG, offers the opportunity to certify vascular centres. The German Society for Vascular Surgery and Vascular Medicine proved to be a pioneer and innovator in this field with its groundbreaking idea of implementing interdisciplinary certification of vascular surgery, radiology and angiology, which was unique and unprecedented when it was first introduced in 2004. Many professional associations turn to vascular surgery when seeking advice on certification. This led to the possibility of certification by the DGG alone or in cooperation with the German Radiological Society (DRG) and/or the German Society for Angiology (DGA). Health insurance companies in the federal states of Berlin, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland have integrated certification into their hospital planning.

In many areas of medicine, disease-oriented interdisciplinary centres of excellence have been established in recent years (trauma centres, oncology centres, vascular centres, etc.).

There are many reasons for establishing these centres:

In order to guarantee the quality associated with the term "vascular centre", it is necessary to define standards for personnel, equipment and therapy. Whether a centre meets these standards is verified in the certification process. The criteria themselves are discussed and, if necessary, updated annually at meetings of the certification sections of the professional associations and at a joint meeting of the DGG, DRG and DGA professional associations. 

To obtain certification, the centre must complete and submit a written application. This application can be requested from the office by fax (030-280 990 990) or email (sekretariat(at)gefaesschirurgie.de).

After an initial review, the application documents are forwarded to the certification section. If the requirements are met on paper, an audit is carried out by one, two or three auditors with expertise in vascular surgery and vascular medicine. The auditors are themselves specialists in vascular surgery, angiology or radiology and members of the section. The Private Akademie DGG gmbH determines which auditor audits which centre. Auditors must disclose any conflicts of interest, which are taken into account. The auditors attend a training course once a year.

After a successful audit, the applicant centre is officially recognised as a certified vascular centre by the Private Akademie DGG gGmbH and listed accordingly. The vascular centres certified to date are listed on the website of the German Society for Vascular Surgery and Vascular Medicine. It is also possible to have the centre certified by the German Society for Angiology and/or the German Society for Radiology. 

Members of the Section

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