Health Care Quality Assessment

Pneumonia is an inflammation of the lungs caused by an infection. Many different organisms can cause pneumonia, including bacteria, viruses and fungi. Pneumonia can range from very mild to very severe, even fatal, depending on the type of organism causing it as well as the age and current health of the individual.

Symptoms of pneumonia

Symptoms can include fever, fatigue, difficulty breathing, chills, “wet” cough and chest pain.

These scores show how well hospitals are treating eligible pneumonia patients. Patients with contraindications, those at higher risk of experiencing complications,to any of the recommended treatments are excluded from the scores for that treatment. Higher percentages indicate better performance.

Antibiotic Selection

• THIS SCORE TELLS YOU the percent of pneumonia patients who received the most appropriate initial antibiotic.
  
  
• THIS INFORMATION IS IMPORTANT because different antibiotics treat specific bacterial infections. The initial antibiotic selection should be the best treatment choice for that type of pneumonia.