title: A day in the life of the AMU--the Society for Acute Medicine's benchmarking audit 2012 (SAMBA '12).
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The absence of published data for benchmarking serves as a disincentive for Acute Medical Units to improve care.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To test feasibility of a national audit in Acute Medicine for compliance with common standards.
  
  
  METHODS
  On line questionnaire with summary data for patients admitted to participating Acute Medicine Units over a 24-hour-period.
  
  
  RESULTS
  30 units submitted summary data. The mean number of admission was 36 (SD 14). Compliance with standards around timing of junior and senior review was highly variable. In almost all other standards only a small number of units achieved high reliability with compliance of more than 90%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  SAMBA provides a data set that can be used for local and national benchmarking and quality improvement work. Annual audit might be beneficial to track improvements.
authors.affiliation: Bangor University School of Medical Sciences, Ysbyty Gwynedd, Penrhosgarnedd, LL57 2PW Bangor, UK. csubbe@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Christian P
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Subbe
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ward
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Latip
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Le Jeune
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bell
mesh_terms: D019985:Benchmarking / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D019983:Guideline Adherence / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008485:Medical Audit / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012955:Societies, Medical; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D006113:United Kingdom