Each year physicians diagnose approximately 4 million patients with community-acquired pneumonia. The decision of which patients to hospitalize and what therapy to use is a common, but often difficult, problem. The past medical history, current history and physical exam findings, laboratory and radiographic data, patient reliability and social support are some of the considerations in determining the need for inpatient care.
Computers offer an important new technology to assist physicians in making clinical decisions.
Such computer support is termed decision support system. A Process Improvement Grant from the University of Iowa Health Care supported the work. The site contains two decision support systems, one to assist in the decision to hospitalize and a second to assist in choosing appropriate empiric antibiotics. Decision to Hospitalize A number of prognostic and assessment tools address the need for hospitalization, but no one tool can consider all variables and still be useful to the busy clinician. Empiric Treatment with Antibiotics Appropriate management of community-acquired pneumonia.is an ever evolving and controversial subject.