Guideline-concordant antibiotic therapy and clinical outcomes in healthcare-associated pneumonia.

Background: The 2005 ATS/IDSA guidelines defined healthcare-associated pneumonia (HCAP) as a novel category of pneumonia in patients with significant healthcare exposure in whom the risk of drug resistant bacteria may be higher. In this study, we compare clinical outcomes in patients with HCAP who were treated with guideline-concordant antibiotic regimens with those who were not.

Methods: Medical records of 100 patients meeting HCAP criteria admitted to an academic tertiary care hospital between January 2009 and January 2011 were retrospectively reviewed.