Infectious diseases specialists as clinical auditors: a lock-and-key fit
Angela Ishak, Nikolaos Mazonakis, Konstantinos Alexakis, Constantinos Tsioutis, Aris P. Agouridis, Nikolaos SpernovasilisAbstract
Clinical auditing is a structured quality improvement (QI) process that measures care against explicit standards, followed by implementation of change and re-audit. The effectiveness of the audit depends not only on the methodology but also on who conducts it. Infectious diseases (ID) specialists are equipped to excel as clinical auditors due to their combined expertise in clinical medicine, surveillance, infection prevention and control, antimicrobial stewardship, epidemiology, and cross-disciplinary leadership. Their integration with pharmacy, information technology, and facilities management departments equips them with a holistic skillset for hospital-wide QI. This review outlines the clinical auditing framework, contrasts it with research, QI and service evaluation, and presents a competency map for the ID specialists who act as clinical auditors. We propose high-yield audit domains where ID specialists’ leadership can drive measurable improvements in patient safety and organizational performance.