Authors:
Joanne E. Mortimer, MD,
Mary Kay Lauman, RN
Benjamin Tan, MD
Cindy L. Dempsey, PharmD
Alicia C. Shillington, RN, MPH, PhD
Kellie S. Hutchins, PharmD

Abstract:

Management of community-acquired pneumonia in hospitalized patients can be optimized by using strategies developed by thought leaders in pneumonia in a multicenter benchmarking study facilitated by EPI-Q, Inc., an outcomes improvement practice group. Decisions about which patients require hospitalization, early initiation of antibiotic therapy in the emergency department, changing from parenteral to oral agents early in antibiotic therapy, and use of continued antibiotic treatment after hospital discharge are important elements for consideration. The success of an approach following guidelines developed by the American Thoracic Society is supported by studies reporting on clinical and pharmacoeconomic outcomes.