Mayo Clinic proceedings
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Mayo Clinic proceedings · Oct 2002
Comparative StudyComparison of processes and outcomes of pneumonia care between hospitalists and community-based primary care physicians.
To compare medical care provided by hospitalists and primary care physicians to patients with community-acquired pneumonia in order to identify specific practices that might explain the improved efficiency of care provided by hospitalists. ⋯ Inpatients with community-acquired pneumonia cared for by hospitalists had a shorter adjusted LOS than those seen by primary care physicians primarily because of earlier recognition of stability and more rapid conversion from intravenous to oral antibiotics. Adjusted costs were likewise reduced. However, patients seen by hospitalists were discharged with an unstable clinical variable more often. Other than earlier switch to oral antibiotics, less use of clindamycin and ceftazidime, and fewer infectious disease consultations, hospitalists' processes of care were similar to those of primary care physicians.