Medical Audit

1. Medical Audit
   AUDIT
   Official Examination and Verification of Accounts or Dealings
   
   Medical Audit
   Evaluation of Medical Care through retrospective analysis of Medical Records or prospective follow up of patients suffering from a particular disease by treating doctors and his team.
   
   Pre Requisites of Medical Audit
   To be carried out by fair and impartial clinicians who are thoroughly conversant with the current practice of medicine. The impetus must come from the Medical staff themselves, realising the benefits to the patients and themselves. A good system of Medical Record keeping preferably with a trained medical record Librarian. Well defined disease related criteria.
   
   Process of Medical Audit
   Retrospective
   Analysis of the records of the discharged patients
   Finding out the deficiencies, errors, omissions and commissions on these.
   
   Prospective
   To Ensure that the management of individual case on a particular diagnosis conforms to the prescribed standards.
   A group of patients suffering from a disease is followed up by treating doctors and his team.
   Criteria Development
   Step 1.
   Selection of the Diagnosis to be studied by audit or utilisation committee.
   Step 2.
   Develop the criteria
   i) Indicators for admission
   ii) Hospital services recommended for optimal care
   iii) Range of length of stay and indicators for discharge
   iv) Complications as a result of treatment procedures.
   
   Medical Audit of Infant Death
   Line listing of all cases
   Case investigation from against medical advice (AMA) discharge cases should also be investigated.
   u Verbal Autopsy at field level
   u Verbal determination of the non-clinical causes of death.
   u Verbal reporting of background characteristics
   u Medical Audit at institutional Level
   Analyse the information collected
   Find out the Medico Social cause
   Discuss with staff and community members to prevent such deaths in future.