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Pneumonia Patients Whose Initial Emergency Room Blood Culture Was Performed Prior to the Administration of the First Hospital Dose of Antibiotics

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InstitutionRating
U.S. Average190%
N.C. Average292%
Top Hospitals3100%
Duke Raleigh Hospital97%
Duke University Hospital94%
Durham Regional Hospital95%

The rates displayed in this graph are for discharges October 2007 through September 2008. 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 100% on this measure.

What Does This Measure?

The percentage of eligible pneumonia patients who had a blood culture taken prior to receiving antibiotics.

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/blood_culture