Home > About Duke Medicine > Quality and Safety > Performance Measures > Pneumonia > Pneumonia Patients Given the Most Appropriate Initial Antibiotic(s)

Pneumonia Patients Given the Most Appropriate Initial Antibiotic(s)

Note: The chart on this page requires the Flash viewer. To see it, download and install the Flash plugin here:
Macromedia Flash Player

InstitutionRating
U.S. Average187%
N.C. Average287%
Top Hospitals397%
Duke Raleigh Hospital96%
Duke University Hospital95%
Durham Regional Hospital96%

The rates displayed in this graph are for discharges January 2007 through December 2007. Source: hospitalcompare.hhs.gov
(1) The U.S. average includes all reporting hospitals in the United States.
(2) The N.C. average includes all reporting hospitals in the state of North Carolina.
(3) "Top Hospitals" represent the top 10% of hospitals nationwide. These hospitals achieved 97% or better on this measure.

What Does This Measure?

The percentage of eligible pneumonia patients who received the most appropriate type of antibiotic.

Why Is This Important?

If pneumonia is caused by bacteria, hospitals will usually treat the infection with antibiotics. Different antibiotics are more effective at treating different bacteria.

Hospitals use blood culture tests to determine the most effective antibiotic to treat a particular strain of pneumonia.

What Are We Doing to Improve Our Performance?

Duke has enacted several initiatives to improve our performance. These include:

More Information

About This Page

Published: Mar. 17, 2008
Updated: June 19, 2008
URL: http://www.dukehealth.org/AboutDuke/quality/performance_measures/pneumonia/appropriate_antibiotic