Six flaws revealed: how to make your audit/MCE studies more meaningful

A study that lacks a definite design lacks direction and is defeated before it starts. Careful study design, however, is not the only indication of a successful audit. Approaching variation analysis in a positive rather than punitive manner enhances the committee's ability to recognize important findings and discover imaginative uses for audit data. When problems in care are revealed through evaluation activities, the committee must make recommendations that are appropriate to the causes of the problem and that can be readily implemented. An audit committee that discharges these responsibilities will produce a study that should surely yield informative data. The committee's ultimate goal--improved patient care--can not be far behind.