 |
 |

Understanding Physician Adherence With a Pneumonia Practice Guideline
Effects of Patient, System, and Physician Factors
Ethan A. Halm, MD, MPH;
Steven J. Atlas, MD, MPH;
Leila H. Borowsky, MPH;
Theodore I. Benzer, MD, PhD;
Joshua P. Metlay, MD, PhD;
YuChiao Chang, PhD;
Daniel E. Singer, MD
Arch Intern Med. 2000;160:98-104.
Background Adherence with clinical practice guidelines is highly variable. Reasons for their inconsistent performance have not been well studied.
Objective To determine the patient, system, and physician factors that may explain why physicians may not follow guidelines.
Methods We used chart review and physician surveys to measure adherence with an actively implemented guideline to reduce hospitalizations for patients coming to the emergency department with community-acquired pneumonia. Logistic regression analyses were used to identify factors associated with guideline nonadherence.
Results Overall nonadherence with the guideline was 43.6%, with 71 of 163 low-risk patients with pneumonia being hospitalized despite the recommendation for outpatient therapy. In univariate analyses, nonadherence to the guideline was more likely for patients who were aged 65 years or older, were male, were employed, and had multilobar disease or other comorbid conditions (P<.05). Active involvement of a primary care physician in the admission decision also increased nonadherence (odds ratio, 4.9; 95% confide0nce interval, 2.2-11.0). Physicians with more pneumonia experience were more likely not to follow the guideline (P<.001). In multivariate models, the odds of nonadherence were 2 to 3 times greater when patients were 65 years or older, were male, or had multilobar disease, or the primary care physician was involved in the triage decision (P<.05). Physicians' reasons for admission were the presence of active comorbidities (55%), the primary care physician's wish for hospitalization (41%), the presence of worse pneumonia than the guideline indicated (36%), patient preference (17%), and inadequate home support (16%).
Conclusions Nonadherence to a pneumonia guideline was associated with a variety of patient, system, and physician factors. Guideline implementation strategies should take into account the heterogeneous forces that can influence physician decision making.
From the Departments of Health Policy and Medicine, Mount Sinai Medical Center, New York, NY (Dr Halm); General Medicine Division, Department of Medicine (Drs Atlas, Chang, and Singer and Ms Borowsky), and Department of Emergency Medicine (Dr Benzer), Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass; and Division of General Internal Medicine, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Philadelphia (Dr Metlay).
RELATED ARTICLE
Archives of Internal Medicine Reader's Choice: Continuing Medical Education
Arch Intern Med. 2000;160(1):121-122.
FULL TEXT
THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES
 |
Hand Hygiene Among General Practice Dentists: A Survey of Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices
Myers et al.
Journal of the American Dental Association 2008;139:948-957.
ABSTRACT
| FULL TEXT
Identifying barriers to the rapid administration of appropriate antibiotics in community-acquired pneumonia
Barlow et al.
J Antimicrob Chemother 2008;61:442-451.
ABSTRACT
| FULL TEXT
Introducing a multifaceted intervention to improve the management of otitis media: how do pediatricians, internists, and family physicians respond?
Francis et al.
American Journal of Medical Quality 2006;21:134-143.
ABSTRACT
Physicians' Perceptions of Patients' Social and Behavioral Characteristics and Race Disparities in Treatment Recommendations for Men With Coronary Artery Disease
van Ryn et al.
Am. J. Public Health 2006;96:351-357.
ABSTRACT
| FULL TEXT
Management of suspected venous thromboembolism: the impact of a multifaceted intervention
Salaun et al.
Int J Qual Health Care 2005;17:433-438.
ABSTRACT
| FULL TEXT
Guidelines for the Treatment of Community-acquired Pneumonia: Predictors of Adherence and Outcome
Menendez et al.
Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. 2005;172:757-762.
ABSTRACT
| FULL TEXT
Understanding variation in quality of antibiotic use for community-acquired pneumonia: effect of patient, professional and hospital factors
Schouten et al.
J Antimicrob Chemother 2005;56:575-582.
ABSTRACT
| FULL TEXT
Prevention and Diagnosis of Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia: A Survey on Current Practices in Southern Spanish ICUs
Sierra et al.
Chest 2005;128:1667-1673.
ABSTRACT
| FULL TEXT
Improving compliance with hospital antibiotic guidelines: a time-series intervention analysis
Mol et al.
J Antimicrob Chemother 2005;55:550-557.
ABSTRACT
| FULL TEXT
Impact of an interdisciplinary strategy on antibiotic use: a prospective controlled study in three hospitals
von Gunten et al.
J Antimicrob Chemother 2005;55:362-366.
ABSTRACT
| FULL TEXT
Patients with community acquired pneumonia discharged from the emergency department according to a clinical practice guideline
Campbell et al.
Emerg. Med. J. 2004;21:667-669.
ABSTRACT
| FULL TEXT
Cost-effectiveness of full-course oral levofloxacin in severe community-acquired pneumonia
Wasserfallen et al.
Eur Respir J 2004;24:644-648.
ABSTRACT
| FULL TEXT
Commentary
van Ryn and Williams
Med Care Res Rev 2003;60:496-508.
Cost and Incidence of Social Comorbidities in Low-Risk Patients With Community-Acquired Pneumonia Admitted to a Public Hospital
Goss et al.
Chest 2003;124:2148-2155.
ABSTRACT
| FULL TEXT
Shoot, Ready, Aim: Pneumonia Care Quality and Costs in a Community Hospital
Milo et al.
American Journal of Medical Quality 2003;18:214-219.
ABSTRACT
Adherence to local hospital guidelines for surgical antimicrobial prophylaxis: a multicentre audit in Dutch hospitals
van Kasteren et al.
J Antimicrob Chemother 2003;51:1389-1396.
ABSTRACT
| FULL TEXT
A prediction rule to identify allocation of inpatient care in community-acquired pneumonia
Espana et al.
Eur Respir J 2003;21:695-701.
ABSTRACT
| FULL TEXT
Management of Community-Acquired Pneumonia
Halm and Teirstein
NEJM 2002;347:2039-2045.
FULL TEXT
Why Do Physicians Not Follow Evidence-Based Guidelines for Preventing Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia?* : A Survey Based on the Opinions of an International Panel of Intensivists
Rello et al.
Chest 2002;122:656-661.
ABSTRACT
| FULL TEXT
Guidelines for antibiotic usage in hospitals
Brown
J Antimicrob Chemother 2002;49:587-592.
FULL TEXT
Early Discharge of Infected Patients Through Appropriate Antibiotic Use
Eron and Passos
Arch Intern Med 2001;161:61-65.
ABSTRACT
| FULL TEXT
|