Process quality of medical care for inpatients with community acquired pneumonia: a clinical pathway based study

Abstract

Objective To study the compliance of medical care at public hospitals in China with corresponding clinical pathway for inpatients of community acquired pneumonia (CAP). Methods Thirty medical records of inpatients with CAP admitted in 2014 were randomly sampled from 18 public hospitals in Shanghai, Hubei province and Gansu province, for assessment on their compliance with corresponding clinical pathways. Results The average compliance rate of inpatient care of CAP at public hospitals was 65.1%. The study the lowest compliance rates in both timely examinations/diagnosis and severity assessment within three days after admission (0.7% and 26.6%, respectively). The compliance rate of reasonable initial antibiotic use was 48.5%. Conclusions The compliance rate of inpatient care of CAP is low in China. Thus admission examinations, patient severity assessment and antibiotic utilization should be enhanced accordingly for their compliance. Key words: Clinical pathway; Medical quality; Process assessment; Public hospital; Community acquired pneumonia