PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - R T Erasmus
AU  - A E Zemlin
TI  - Clinical audit in the laboratory
AID  - 10.1136/jcp.2008.056929
DP  - 2009 Jul 01
TA  - Journal of Clinical Pathology
PG  - 593--597
VI  - 62
IP  - 7
4099  - http://jcp.bmj.com/content/62/7/593.short
4100  - http://jcp.bmj.com/content/62/7/593.full
SO  - J Clin Pathol2009 Jul 01; 62
AB  - Audits are part of the continuous quality improvement process and one of the key elements of clinical governance. Laboratory-based clinical audits are concerned primarily with the everyday aspects of laboratory services and are a means of providing feedback to the users of the laboratory and its staff. They involve measuring the performance of laboratory services against established standards. These standards have ideally been established using the principles of evidence-based medicine. If necessary, changes are implemented and then a re-audit is performed after a certain time period to ensure that the changes have been implemented and maintained. Areas of audit in the laboratory include the preanalytical, analytical and postanalytical phases. This review article examines the basis of clinical audits in the laboratory and then proceeds to describe in detail how a laboratory-based clinical audit should be performed and monitored, with special reference to the chemical pathology laboratory.