Reducing Pneumonia Hospitalizations

Implementation of a quality-improvement system reminds physicians of treatment guidelines for pneumonia patients, which leads to better overall care and fewer unnecessary hospitalizations.

These were the conclusions of a study conducted by investigators from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine (Pittsburgh , PA, USA) and the Pittsburgh VA Healthcare System. The findings were published in the December 2005 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine.

The study involved 32 hospital emergency departments and more than 3,200 patients diagnosed with pneumonia who posed varying risks of adverse outcomes from the disease. All participating emergency departments agreed to follow uniform practice guidelines, which were based on expert consensus of U.S. experts in pneumonia care.

The emergency departments were randomly assigned as low-intensity, moderate-intensity or high-intensity sites--designations reflecting the level and intensity of feedback, reinforcement, and continuous quality improvement activities that each emergency department would carry out relevant to its pneumonia patients.

"Pneumonia is common, costly and serious, but for patients at lower risk it often can be treated successfully at home, which is what many low-risk patients prefer at 1/20th the cost of hospitalization,” said Professor Michael Fine, M.D., of the University of Pittsburgh, author of the study and a noted expert on the treatment of pneumonia.

An estimated 5 million pneumonia cases are diagnosed each year in the United States alone, but despite its prevalence, physicians frequently overestimate the probability of death in many pneumonia patients, leading to potentially unnecessary and costly hospitalizations.





Related Links:
Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Pittsburgh VA Healthcare System