title: What have we learned about how to measure quality of care for patients with community-acquired pneumonia?
abstract: The most commonly used measures of quality of care for hospitalized pneumonia patients are process measures as opposed to outcome measures.For a process measure to be useful in assessing quality of care, it must be linked to a desired outcome. For patients hospitalized with pneumonia, the obtaining of blood cultures, the timely use of appropriate antibiotics, and the delivery of the influenza and pneumococcal vaccines are the process measures most widely used for assessing quality of care in relation to clinical outcomes. The admission decision and the length of time that intravenous antibiotics are used are process measurements that directly affect financial outcomes.
authors.affiliation: Pulmonary Division, University of Connecticut School of Medicine, University of Connecticut Health Center, 263 Farmington Avenue, Farmington, CT 06030-1225, USA. Metersky@nso.uchc.edu
authors.forename: Mark L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Metersky
authors.forename: Susan L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Abend
authors.forename: Thomas P
authors.initials: TP
authors.lastname: Meehan
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D017714:Community-Acquired Infections / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D010348:Patient Care Team; D018410:Pneumonia, Bacterial / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D015996:Survival Rate; D017749:Total Quality Management; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014481:United States
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents