Antibiotic therapy in community-acquired pneumonia and the role of the hospital pharmacist

Three different approaches that analyze the benefits of using fluoroquinolo nes in the management of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) are examined. T he facilities that undertook the studies range from a small rural setting t o a large tertiary care center. In all 3 cases, fluoroquinolones proved to be excellent cost-effective alternatives to more traditional antimicrobials . The first study, at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, looks at the decision analysis techniques used to determine whether levoflo xacin is a safe, effective, and cost-effective therapy for the treatment of CAP in adults. In the second study, the departments of Pharmacy and Microb iology at Memorial Hospital, Lufkin, Texas, investigated the optimal antimi crobial therapy for the management of CAP. In the third case study, the Pha rmacy Department at the Albany Medical Center Hospital, began a therapeutic substitution of levofloxacin for other fluoroquinolones to test the hypoth esis that cost savings can be achieved by the substitution.