What is important in the care of a patient with pneumonia?

The graph below demonstrates Anderson Hospital’s performance for each one of the treatment recommendations for pneumonia compared to the performance of other hospitals nationwide.

Initial Antibiotic Received Within 6 Hours of Hospital Arrival Pneumonia Vaccine Influenza Vaccine Smoking Cessation Counseling Blood cultures performed prior to giving initial antibiotic Appropriate initial antibiotic selection

Pneumonia

1. Initial antibiotic received within 6 hours of hospital arrival. Antibiotics are given as soon as possible to pneumonia patients to speed their recovery. This measure reports the percentage of patients, diagnosed with pneumonia, who received the first antibiotic within 6 hours of arriving at the hospital. Back to top of page.
2. Pneumococcal vaccination or “pneumonia shot”. Pneumonia vaccination is important for people 65 years of age and older because if helps prevent infections and meningitis caused by the pneumococcal  bacteria. This measure reports the percentage of patients, diagnosed with pneumonia, who were screened for the vaccine and were vaccinated prior to discharge if appropriate. Back to top of page.
3. Influenza vaccination or “flu shot”.  Influenza vaccination is recommended for people age 50 or older because it is effective in helping to prevent influenza related pneumonia, hospitalization and death. This measure reports the percentage of patients:
   
   • discharged during October, November, December, January, February, or March
   • with a diagnosis of pneumonia
   • age 50 or older
   who were screened for the influenza vaccine and were vaccinated prior to discharge if appropriate. Back to top of page.
4. Smoking cessation advice or counseling. Quitting smoking reduces the risk of complications and death.  National guidelines strongly recommend that patients receive advice or counseling to quit smoking while in the hospital with pneumonia. This measure reports the percentage of patients that smoked anytime during the past year, who received advice or counseling to quit smoking. Back to top of page.
5. Blood cultures performed in the emergency room before the first antibiotic is given. Before a patient receives any antibiotics for pneumonia, it is important that blood samples be taken to test for the type of infection so the correct antibiotic can be given. This measure reports the percentage of pneumonia patients admitted through the emergency room that received this test before the first antibiotic was given. Back to top of page.
6. Appropriate initial antibiotic selection. It is important for patients, who have pneumonia, to receive the correct antibiotic within 24 hours of hospital arrival to speed their recovery. This measure reports the percentage of patients, diagnosed with pneumonia and not in intensive care, who were given the correct antibiotic within 24 hours of arriving at the hospital. Back to top of page.

For more information on these quality measures, please check Hospital Compare.

Return to Quality Page