Analysis of Pneumonia Treatment in a Community Hospital Sanjay KC, Heather Gibson, Christina Thurber, Bess Johnson, Drew Kessell FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital - Pinehurst, NC
Background/Purpose: Pneumonia is the eighth leading cause of mortality among adults in the United States.Despite advances in antimicrobial therapy, community acquired pneumonia (CAP) continues to be a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in adults. CAP is one of the most common causes of severe sepsis and infectious causes of death in adults in the United States, with a mortality rate of 30% to 40%. Annual healthcare expenditures are approximately $ 17 billion and are expected to grow as the population ages. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) reports risk standardized 30-days mortality and readmission rates for pneumonia. CMS transitioned to a value based payment model reducing reimbursement to hospitals with readmissions. The purpose of this study is to assess the treatment methods utilized for pneumonia diagnosed patients in a community hospital
Methodology: Retrospective chart review of the patients admitted from Oct 2017 to Nov 2018 with confirmed CAP diagnosis. 100 patients were randomly selected. The following data will be collected: Patient demographics, Empirical antibiotic treatment, total duration of inpatient antibiotic treatment, discharge antibiotics, total duration of discharge antibiotics and overall length of therapy
Results: 50 percent of the patients were older than 70 years old. Most of the patients were treated empirically with Ceftriaxone and Azithromycin. 21 patients were treated between 5-7 days, 39 patients between 8-10 days, 32 patients between 11-15 days and 6 patients were treated for more than 15 days
Conclusions: The initial empiric antibiotic therapy is appropriate. However, the total duration of therapy is longer than recommend 5 to 7 days
Presentation Objective: To determine if initial empiric therapy and duration of treatment were appropriate
Self-Assessment: How do you treat the patient with a past medical history of COPD and Diabetes diagnosed with CAP with calculated CURB-65 score of 2?
