Journal of clinical medicine research
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The Joint Commission (JC) has set a quality of care standard for emergency department (ED) patients diagnosed with community acquired pneumonia (CAP) that states that they are to receive antibiotics within six hours of presentation to the ED. Hospitals have been able to demonstrate that the majority of patients meet these criteria, yet there are still many who do not. Previously published studies have reported that there are several issues that contribute to prolonged times to antibiotic administration including ED crowding and atypical clinical presentations. This study was undertaken to identify factors existing early in the patient encounter that may be associated with failure to meet the Joint Commission's six-hour standard for antibiotic administration. ⋯ Compared to patients who did meet Joint Commission criteria, those who did not receive antibiotics within 6 hours were likely to have triage pulse rates and O(2) saturation levels closer to normal, thus contributing to diagnostic uncertainty. They were also likely to present to the ED at the most crowded time of day. Likelihood to meet JC criteria was improved if O(2) saturation was below normal, pulse rate was elevated, if they exhibited mental confusion, or if they presented to the ED very early or very late in the day, or on a lower census day.