What is a retrospective audit used for?

A retrospective audit is specifically designed to create a snapshot of past compliance by reviewing historical data, documentation, and processes. This type of audit allows organizations to assess whether they adhered to regulations, policies, and procedures during a specific timeframe. By focusing on past activities, retrospective audits can highlight trends, issues, and areas of non-compliance that may have occurred in the past, enabling organizations to understand their compliance history and make informed decisions for future improvements.

Using retrospective audits, healthcare organizations can analyze past performance, learn from previous compliance challenges, and implement corrective actions based on the findings. The focus is on examining what has already happened rather than assessing ongoing operations or identifying current issues, which is why this option stands out as the most accurate representation of the purpose of a retrospective audit.