This measures the percentage of pneumonia patients who are given the most appropriate antibiotics to treat their specific types of pneumonia. Antibiotics are medicines that treat infection, and each one works differently. Different antibiotics work better for treating certain infections. Physicians should prescribe the antibiotics that are best suited to treating each pneumonia patient's unique infection.

July 2011 - June 2012 data

For the above graph: Higher ↑ performance is better.

Results over time

For the above graph: Higher ↑ performance is better.

What MU Health Care is doing to improve
University of Missouri Health Care conducts monthly meetings where our physicians and quality improvement experts examine each case when a pneumonia patient did not receive what is considered the most appropriate antibiotic.

Additionally, our physicians carefully examine the individual circumstances of each patient. Sometimes our physicians prescribe an antibiotic that is different than those on the government's list of most appropriate antibiotics.

For example, we sometimes use antibiotics that target a specific type of bacteria instead of using antibiotics that target a large number of bacteria. Targeted antibiotics can help reduce side effects and prevent resistance of bacteria to antibiotics; however, many of these targeted antibiotics are not on the list of antibiotics that this quality measure tracks.

More pneumonia measurements

• Pneumococcal vaccination status
• Blood cultures performed in emergency room before initial antibiotic received in hospital
• Smoking-cessation advice or counseling
• Intial antibiotic timing
• Appropriate initial antibiotic selection
• Influenza vaccination status
• Pneumonia mortality rates
• Pneumonia re-admission rates

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