Annals of emergency medicine
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Multicenter Study
Patients hospitalized after initial outpatient treatment for community-acquired pneumonia.
To determine the incidence, causes, and outcomes of patients hospitalized within 30 days of initiating outpatient treatment for community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). ⋯ A small proportion of patients with CAP initially treated in the outpatient setting are subsequently hospitalized. Such patients face a higher risk of delayed recovery or death. However, the vast majority of outpatients, whether subsequently hospitalized or not, had a successful resolution of their illness. Subsequent hospitalization by 10 days after initial outpatient treatment seems a reasonable screening tool for potentially unsatisfactory quality of care for patients with CAP.