• T P Meehan, M J Fine, H M Krumholz, J D Scinto, D H Galusha, J T Mockalis, G F Weber, M K Petrillo, P M Houck, and J M Fine.
• Connecticut Peer Review Organization, Middletown, USA. ctpro.tmeehan@sdps.org
• JAMA. 1997 Dec 17;278(23):2080-4.

ContextPneumonia is a frequent cause of hospitalization and death among elderly patients, but the relationships between processes of care for pneumonia and outcomes are uncertain, making quality improvement a challenge.ObjectivesTo assess quality of care for Medicare patients hospitalized with pneumonia and to determine whether process of care performance is associated with lower 30-day mortality.DesignMulticenter retrospective cohort study with medical record review.SettingA total of 3555 acute care hospitals throughout the United States.PatientsA total of 14069 patients at least 65 years old hospitalized with pneumonia.Main Outcome MeasuresFour processes of care: time from hospital arrival to initial antibiotic administration; blood culture collection before initial hospital antibiotics; blood culture collection within 24 hours of hospital arrival; and oxygenation assessment within 24 hours of hospital arrival. Associations between processes of care and 30-day mortality were determined with logistic regression analysis.ResultsNational estimates of process-of-care performance were antibiotic administration within 8 hours of hospital arrival, 75.5% (95% confidence interval [CI], 73.1-77.9); blood cultures before antibiotics, 57.3% (95% CI, 54.5-60.1); initial blood culture collection, 68.7% (95% CI, 66.2-71.2); and initial oxygenation assessment, 89.3% (95% CI, 87.5-90.9). Lower 30-day mortality was associated with antibiotic administration within 8 hours of hospital arrival (odds ratio [OR], 0.85; 95% CI, 0.75-0.96) and blood culture collection within 24 hours of arrival (OR, 0.90; 95% CI, 0.81-1.00). State and territory performance estimates varied from 49.0% to 89.7% for antibiotics given within 8 hours and from 45.6% to 82.6% for blood cultures drawn within 24 hours.ConclusionsAdministering antibiotics within 8 hours of hospital arrival and collecting blood cultures within 24 hours were associated with improved survival. The fact that states varied widely in the performance of these measures suggests that opportunities exist to improve hospital care of elderly patients with pneumonia.

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