Early discharge of infected patients through appropriate antibiotic use

Background: Patients with infections are usually discharged from the hospit al with antibiotics when afebrile and clinically improved. Objectives: To compare outcomes of early vs conventionally discharged patie nts and to examine the role of antibiotic use in the discharge process. Methods: One hundred eleven patients hospitalized with cellulitis, communit y-acquired pneumonia, or pyelonephritis (urinary tract infection) discharge d from the hospital early in their clinical course before defervescence by an infectious diseases hospitalist (L.J.E.) were compared in a case-control led study with 112 patients discharged from the hospital according to conve ntional standards of care by internal medicine (IM) hospitalists. Patients were matched for age, sex, diagnosis, and comorbidities. Outcomes were dete rmined for average lengths of stay, readmission to the hospital within 30 d ays with the same diagnosis, satisfaction with their discharge program, and time to return to their normal activities of daily living. Results: Patients cared for by the infectious diseases hospitalist had a sh orter average length of stay (mean difference, 1.7 days), no readmissions, higher satisfaction scores, and a shorter time to return to their activitie s of daily living, compared with those cared for by the IM hospitalists. An alysis of the antibiotics that patients were discharged with revealed that the infectious diseases hospitalist used outpatient parenteral antibiotic t herapy more frequently than IM hospitalists in the treatment of cellulitis, and switched from intravenous to oral antibiotics sooner than IM hospitali sts for patients with community-acquired pneumonia and urinary tract infect ion. Conclusions: The infectious diseases hospitalist discharged patients from t he hospital earlier than the IM hospitalists by more efficient use of antib iotics. The earlier discharge did not adversely affect outcomes.