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Delivering the first antibiotic dose within 4 hours of presentation to patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a core quality measure in U.S. hospitals. In an industry-funded study, investigators sought to determine whether such time pressure has affected the accuracy of CAP diagnosis in the emergency department (ED).
The researchers conducted a retrospective analysis of patients who were diagnosed with CAP at a Baltimore ED and admitted to the hospital during one of two periods: from November 2003 through April 2004, when the recommended target time to first antibiotic dose (TFAD) was <8 hours, and from November 2004 through April 2005, after the recommended TFAD had been reduced to <4 hours. Between the two periods, ED physicia…