Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2014 Jan 17:9:14.
doi: 10.1186/1748-5908-9-14.

No more 'business as usual' with audit and feedback interventions: towards an agenda for a reinvigorated intervention

Noah M Ivers  1 , Anne Sales, Heather Colquhoun, Susan Michie, Robbie Foy, Jill J Francis, Jeremy M Grimshaw
Affiliations

No more 'business as usual' with audit and feedback interventions: towards an agenda for a reinvigorated intervention

Noah M Ivers et al. Implement Sci. .

Abstract

Background: Audit and feedback interventions in healthcare have been found to be effective, but there has been little progress with respect to understanding their mechanisms of action or identifying their key 'active ingredients.'

Discussion: Given the increasing use of audit and feedback to improve quality of care, it is imperative to focus further research on understanding how and when it works best. In this paper, we argue that continuing the 'business as usual' approach to evaluating two-arm trials of audit and feedback interventions against usual care for common problems and settings is unlikely to contribute new generalizable findings. Future audit and feedback trials should incorporate evidence- and theory-based best practices, and address known gaps in the literature.

Summary: We offer an agenda for high-priority research topics for implementation researchers that focuses on reviewing best practices for designing audit and feedback interventions to optimize effectiveness.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Davis DA, Mazmanian PE, Fordis M, Van Harrison R, Thorpe KE, Perrier L. Accuracy of physician self-assessment compared with observed measures of competence: a systematic review. JAMA. 2006;296(9):1094–1102. doi: 10.1001/jama.296.9.1094. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Audet AM, Doty MM, Shamasdin J, Schoenbaum SC. Measure, learn, and improve: physicians’ involvement in quality improvement. Health Aff (Millwood) 2005;24(3):843–853. doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.24.3.843. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Ivers N, Jamtvedt G, Flottorp S, Young JM, Odgaard-Jensen J, French SD, O’Brien MA, Johansen M, Grimshaw J, Oxman AD. Audit and feedback: effects on professional practice and healthcare outcomes. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2012;6 CD000259. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Glasziou P, Meats E, Heneghan C, Shepperd S. What is missing from descriptions of treatment in trials and reviews? BMJ. 2008;336(7659):1472–1474. doi: 10.1136/bmj.39590.732037.47. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Sales A, Smith J, Curran G, Kochevar L. Models, strategies, and tools. Theory in implementing evidence-based findings into health care practice. J Gen Intern Med. 2006;21(Suppl 2):43–49. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms