title: [Clinical audit as a quality improvement tool in the emergency setting. A systematic review of the literature].
abstract: According to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, "Clinical audit is a quality improvement process that seeks to improve patient care and outcomes through systematic review of care against explicit criteria and the implementation of change…Where indicated, changes are implemented at an individual, team, or service level and further monitoring is used to confirm improvement in healthcare delivery". According to the scientific literature, clinical audit is more commonly used in secondary care with respect to primary care, probably because of the high variability that characterizes the latter. The aim of this study was to investigate, through a systematic literature review, the use and effectiveness of clinical audit in a particular field such as that of healthcare emergency.
authors.affiliation: Istituto di Sanità Pubblica - Sezione di Igiene, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Roma , Italia.
authors.forename: Giovanna Elisa
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: Calabrò
authors.affiliation: Istituto di Sanità Pubblica - Sezione di Igiene, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Roma , Italia.
authors.forename: Chiara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: De Waure
authors.affiliation: Istituto di Sanità Pubblica - Sezione di Igiene, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Roma , Italia.
authors.forename: Valerio
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Mogini
authors.affiliation: Istituto di Sanità Pubblica - Sezione di Igiene, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Roma , Italia.
authors.forename: Valentina
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Zeffiro
authors.affiliation: Istituto di Sanità Pubblica - Sezione di Igiene, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Roma , Italia.
authors.forename: Marcella
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Favale
authors.affiliation: Presidente Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Italia.
authors.forename: Walter
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Ricciardi
authors.affiliation: Istituto di Sanità Pubblica - Sezione di Igiene, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Roma , Italia.
authors.forename: Maria Lucia
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Specchia
mesh_terms: D054869:Clinical Audit; D004638:Emergency Treatment; D006801:Humans; D058996:Quality Improvement