Hospital Resource Utilisation by Patients with Community-Acquired Pneumonia.

Little data is available on the resource utilisation of patients admitted with Community-Acquired Pneumonia (CAP) in Ireland. A retrospective review of 50 randomly-selected patients admitted to Beaumont Hospital with CAP was undertaken. The mean length of stay of patients with CAP was 12 days (+/- 16 days). All patients were emergency admissions, all had a chest x-ray, a C-reactive protein blood test, and occupied a public bed at some point during admission. Common antimicrobial therapies were intravenous (IV) amoxicillin/clavulanic acid and oral clarithromycin; 60% received physiotherapy. The estimated mean cost of CAP per patient was €14,802.17. Costs arising from admission to hospital with CAP are substantial, but efforts can be undertaken to ensure that resources are used efficiently to improve patient care such as discharge planning and fewer in-hospital ward transfers.