Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
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The objectives were to assess emergency physician (EP) understanding of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) core measures for community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) guidelines and to determine their self-reported effect on antibiotic prescribing patterns. ⋯ Emergency physicians demonstrate awareness of the current CMS CAP guidelines. Most physicians surveyed reported the presence of institutional protocols to increase compliance. More than half of EPs reported that they feel the guidelines led to unnecessary antibiotic usage for patients who are not suspected to have pneumonia. Only 40% of EPs believe that CAP awareness and expedient care resulting from these guidelines has improved overall pneumonia-related patient care. Outcome-based data for non-intensive care unit CAP patients are lacking, and EPs report that they prescribe antibiotics when they may not be necessary to comply with existing guidelines.
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Multicenter Study
Racial and ethnic differences in emergency care for acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
The objective was to investigate racial and ethnic differences in emergency care for patients with acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD). ⋯ Despite pronounced racial and ethnic differences in stable COPD, all racial and ethnic groups received comparable quality of emergency care for AECOPD and had similar short-term outcomes.