title: Improving outcomes from community-acquired pneumonia.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We are entering into a new era of healthcare wherein patient outcomes are increasingly being publicly reported, not just by institution, but by individual clinicians. This review focuses on the issue of quality of care of patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP), in particular the choice of outcome, quality of data needed and recommendations of the current bundle of care suggested by the available literature as delivering the best chance of favourable outcomes for patients.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There is increasing evidence that pneumonia outcomes have improved over the past decade, particularly mortality. However, we have been oversimplistic in setting quality targets and that a bundle of care is required to deliver best outcomes, such as has been shown with the surviving sepsis campaign. Equally, the quality of data available to compare outcomes needs to be significantly improved on what is currently available.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  To achieve best outcomes for their patients, physicians must be actively comparing their outcomes against other institutions and not rely on historical data. A bundle of care that includes rapid administration of antibiotics, use of combination antibiotic therapy including a macrolide and early mobilization is a good starting point.
authors.affiliation: aUniversity of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia bNorthwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, USA cRoyal Perth Hospital, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: Grant
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Waterer
authors.forename: Lesley
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bennett
mesh_terms: D017714:Community-Acquired Infections / Q000628:therapy*; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay; D011014:Pneumonia / Q000628:therapy*; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D016896:Treatment Outcome