The Effectiveness of Continuous Quality Improvement System Establishment on Improvement of the Data Recording Quality in the Emergency Department: A Clinical Audit

Abstract

Defects in medical records is a common problem in many hospitals of Iran, especially emergency departments. This study was conducted to evaluate and establish a continuous quality improvement (CQI) system for improving the quality of patient data recording in the emergency department. This clinical audit was performed on the medical records of the patients discharged from the emergency department of Jiroft, Imam Hospital in 2017. Evaluations were conducted before and one month after an intervention entitled “data recording quality improvement.” Data registration rate by the medical staff was 73% before and 84% after the intervention. There was no marked difference in the quality of data recording in in-patients before and after the intervention. Regarding the establishment of a CQI system, the data registration rate by the medical staff of the emergency department improved significantly after the intervention.

Keywords

• Documentation
• Emergency department
• Medical records
• Continuous quality improvement