Blood cultures rarely change empiric antibiotic management and can lead to unnecessary increased costs and length of stays for patients admitted for non-severe cases of urinary tract infections, community-acquired pneumonias and cellulitis

Many physicians prescribe antibiotics for a much longer duration than guideline recommendations to treat community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) and healthcare-associated pneumonia (HCAP).

Empiric antibiotics that cover methicillin-resistant staph aureus (MRSA) are overprescribed for adults admitted to the hospital for community-acquired pneumonia (CAP).

Early administration of antibiotics within 8 hours and use of objective criteria to transition from intravenous to oral therapy when patients reach clinical stability is best practice for patients hospitalized for community-acquired pneumonia (CAP).

Two studies suggest that a serum procalcitonin level of 0.10-ng/mL or higher suggests pneumonia over heart failure as the cause of acute dyspnea in ED patients requiring hospitalization.

Steroids appear to decrease mortality, need for mechanical ventilation, ARDS, and hospital length of stay for patients admitted for community-acquired pneumonia (CAP).

This study suggests that lung ultrasound is more sensitive than chest x-ray for diagnosing pneumonia

Among the 53% of patients with negative bronchoalveolar lavage results, alternative explanations for fever and for pulmonary infiltrates were established in 61% and 46%, respectively.

This is an excellent review on the diagnosis, triage, and management of both community-acquired pneumonia and healthcare-associated pneumonia (HCAP).