Background: Pneumonia is often treated for longer than necessary, yet factors associated with excess duration of treatment are unknown. We sought to: (a) develop an algorithm to determine appropriate antibiotic duration in non-intensive care unit (ICU) patients hospitalized with pneumonia and (b) apply this algorithm to an ongoing prospective study to determine patient-, provider-, and [...]

Background: Pneumonia is often treated for longer than necessary, yet factors associated with excess duration of treatment are unknown. We sought to: (a) develop an algorithm to determine appropriate antibiotic duration in non-intensive care unit (ICU) patients hospitalized with pneumonia and (b) apply this algorithm to an ongoing prospective study to determine patient-, provider-, and [...]

Background: Surgical site infections (SSI) can complicate any operative procedure although this risk is mitigated through the use of preoperative antibiotic prophylaxis.  While antibiotic prophylaxis can provide great benefit, inappropriate use can lead to the development of multi-drug resistant organisms causing increased morbidity, mortality, and cost. Although national clinical guidelines for preoperative antibiotics prophylaxis were [...]

Background: Inappropriate antibiotic use is associated with bacterial resistance, adverse events, and an increased risk of Clostridium difficileinfection. However, providers often prescribe antibiotics for viral respiratory infections and treat infections such as bacterial pneumonia for unnecessarily prolonged durations.  Serum procalcitonin (PCT)-guided treatment is known to safely reduce antibiotic use and duration of treatment in pneumonia. [...]