Audit to Help Solve Problems

All audits involve the collection of observational data and comparison against a standard or specification. In many cases a standard does not exist, and maybe not even a specification then it is important to establish a specification as the first stage of auditing a process. Such a specification may then generate observations, which can lead to the creation of a standai d. At the outset it provides the comparative measure against which to judge the performance data collected. 

The study of process may extend to the way in which tlie results are accessed and used. For example, the use of POCT in an emergency department (not in an audit) did not decrease the length of stay despite the fact tliat the dehvery time for the results was much shorter than when results were provided by the laboratory. The authors concluded that the test result was not the rate-limiting step. Murray, in a similar study, did find a reduction in the length of stay and identified a subset of patients in which the POCTs could be used to rule out diagnoses and allow a faster discharge. They noted that in other cases the triage decision was delayed by the need for results jfi om the laboratory. 

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