Hospital Audit Committees: A Comparative Analysis of Structural and Functional Characteristics

The structure, responsibilities, and activities of hospital audit committees are analyzed using data from a survey of 141 hospitals. About half have audit committees. The survey reveals that 60.5% of the audit committees have written charters setting forth their objectives, responsibilities, and dut...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of healthcare management 1991-10, Vol.36 (3), p.383
Main Authors: Urbancic, Frank R, Hauser, Rexford C
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Audit committees
Audits
Boards of directors
Charters
Comparative analysis
Hospitals
Internal auditing
Polls & surveys
Responsibilities
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Summary:The structure, responsibilities, and activities of hospital audit committees are analyzed using data from a survey of 141 hospitals. About half have audit committees. The survey reveals that 60.5% of the audit committees have written charters setting forth their objectives, responsibilities, and duties. The average size of the audit committee was 6.6 members. Although an audit committee should function more effectively when the members are independent of management, an average of 1.5 inside directors serve as members of the audit committee. An accountant serves as a member on 47.4% of the committees. Half of the membership committees have membership appointments for one year with possible reappointments, while 27.6% have appointments for 3 years at a time. The results suggest that one of the most important steps in creating an audit committee is the development of a written charter. Current practices related to audit committee meetings are satisfactory.
ISSN:1096-9012
1944-7396