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Mike Mitka

JAMA. 2007;297:1758-1759.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

A performance measure for emergency departments' treatment of pneumonia is being modified in hopes of better reflecting the true quality of care administered. But will it do so?

At issue is a measure established by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) involving the timing of administration of antibiotics to patients diagnosed with community-acquired pneumonia. When originally issued in 2004, meeting the standard (known as PN-5b) required giving patients who present to an emergency department and are discharged with a diagnosis of pneumonia an antibiotic within 4 hours of presentation. The standard was developed after publication of 2 large retrospective studies showing an association between antibiotic timing and outcomes in patients with pneumonia.

An emergency department radiograph shows normal lungs, but a subsequent computed tomography scan reveals a right middle lobe consolidation (arrowhead) consistent with pneumonia. (Photo credit: Christopher Fee, MD/University of California, San Francisco)

Beginning . . . [Full Text of this Article]

INCREASING RESISTANCE?



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