Does Clinical Governance influence the quality of medical records?

Background. Clinical Governance (CG) is a validated framework for continuous quality improvement in health care settings. Quality medical records may reflect the quality of care delivered and are a viable tool to implement CG skills. Aim. Aim of this study is to investigate the correlation between the level of implementation of CG dimensions and the quality of medical records. Material and methods. A cross-sectional study was carried out in an Italian Teaching Hospital. CG implementation levels were quantified through a systematic methodology (OPTIGOV©). The overall quality of medical records was measured through a revised version of a National-validated scale. A multiple linear regression model was used to test the likely influence of all the variables constituting the OPTIGOV evaluation on the quality of medical records. 47 hospital wards and 1458 medical records were assessed. Results. A significant and positive association between the quality of medical records and the accountability score (β = 0.15; p < 0.01) and the clinical audit score (b = 0.11; p = 0.02), was found. Conversely, the risk management score shown a negative and significant correlation (b = -0.17; p < 0.01). This study confirms that CG plays a central role in driving quality improvement and advocates a systematic implementation of such an approach within healthcare organizations.