title: The hidden cost of audit.
abstract: Although a considerable sum of money has been made available for the introduction of medical audit, many of the indirect costs have not been considered. We have assessed one of these areas, the medical audit meeting, by calculating the cost to Preston Acute Hospitals (PAH) Trust and extrapolating it to England and Wales. A potential cost of Pounds 678,000 per annum to PAH Trust could be reduced to 14 per cent of this figure if current practices were changed. The hidden cost for England and Wales could be up to Pounds 106 million per annum. The cost of medical audit meetings could be dramatically reduced if current practices were modified. This could be done with little detriment to the audit process.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics, Royal Preston Hospital.
authors.forename: D S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Faux
mesh_terms: D004739:England; D017721:Hospital Costs; D006779:Hospitals, Public / Q000191:economics* / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D008485:Medical Audit / Q000191:economics*; D013222:State Medicine / Q000592:standards