Background

Audit and feedback (A&F) is a widely used, effective intervention that can help healthcare systems improve how they implement guidance and research findings into clinical practice.

A&F is defined as any summary (written, electronic, or verbal) of clinical performance of healthcare provided over a specified period of time. It is evidence-based, scalable, and relatively inexpensive. But despite its widespread use, the science around how, when, and why A&F works best is still lacking.

Given A&F’s popularity, it’s important to explore how to maximise the success of A&F interventions and identify at what level in the healthcare system they should be directed. And one of the top research priorities about A&F (as identified by the international community) is to establish whether A&F is more effective if recipients are involved in the development of the feedback intervention through methods like co-design.

This project aims to address these international priorities and drive forward the science of A&F by looking at this popular intervention through the example of dental healthcare delivery.

Approach

This project will involve co-designing A&F interventions for antibiotic prescribing and fissure sealant placement with dental health professionals and pilot testing the co-designed A&F tools.

It will also involve interviews with directors and senior health intelligence staff across Scotland to explore the use of A&F at the organisational level for systems level change, including the level of current use of A&F at Scottish health board level, how it is enacted upon for systems level change, and the factors that influence its use and/or non-use.

Where existing A&F tools are in use at an organisational level, samples will be requested for a documentary analysis to clearly specify the current landscape of organisational A&F use in Scotland.