Managing patient populations in primary care: points of leverage.

Common "quality" metrics may represent the quality of care for large populations; however, they do not adequately represent quality in individual primary care settings, especially as stand-alone indices. Using discreet threshold values to measure quality in primary care may result in physicians focusing on managing patients by the numbers at the expense of making individualized and nuanced clinical decisions. Current performance measures may be misapplied as proxies for both cost savings and quality. We posit that developing and focusing measurement on high-leverage activities will yield better clinical outcomes and potentially lower cost. As a starting point for further work in this area, we suggest the development of metrics that track identification and management of depression; management of transitions of care; care coordination; team-based care; identification and support of socially frail/isolated individuals; pharmacologic management, including optimizing medication and dealing with adherence issues; and establishment of a therapeutic environment. These processes, or others like them, will require infrastructure that may be costly and time-consuming, and measuring these processes will require thought and effort. Nevertheless, we believe developing metrics based on high-leverage activities will yield greater clinical and economic returns than relying on the metrics currently in place.

A consensus statement on empiric therapy for suspected gram-positive infections in surgical patients.

BACKGROUND: Multidrug resistance among gram-positive pathogens in tertiary and other care centers is common. A systematic decision pathway to help select empiric antibiotic therapy for suspected gram-positive postsurgical infections is presented. DATA SOURCES: A Medline search with regard to empiric antibiotic therapy was performed and assessed by the 15-member expert panel. Two separate panel meetings were convened and followed by a writing, editorial, and review process. CONCLUSIONS: The main goal of empiric treatment in postsurgical patients with suspected gram-positive infections is to improve clinical status. Empiric therapy should be initiated at the earliest sign of infection in all critically ill patients. The choice of therapy should flow from beta-lactams to vancomycin to parenteral linezolid or quinupristin-dalfopristin. In patients likely to be discharged, oral linezolid is an option. Antibiotic resistance is an important issue, and in developing treatment algorithms for reduction of resistance, the utility of these new antibiotics may be extended and reduce morbidity and mortality.