Panning for gold: sifting through chart audit data for patient outcomes.

Randomly observing patients after a 6-month period of clinic visits that included time for an educational component revealed that although patients were making positive changes to improve their health, an identifiable pattern of improvement in health status was not apparent. A chart audit was performed to gather demographic and outcome data in a more systematic manner. This article describes the process for completing the chart audit and analyzing the data. The potential for chart audits to raise research questions for subsequent development of outcomes evaluation studies is discussed. The author presents a model for a health care outcome research study that can be applied to improve effectiveness of care.