Reducing Cost of Azythromycin by Transferring From IV to Oral Therapy

Pneumonia Clinical Trial

Official title: Can the Cost of Azythromycin in be Reduced in Hospitalized Patients With Community Acquired Pneumonia by Quick Transfer From Intravenous to Oral Therapy?

Status Withdrawn

Clinical Trial Summary

Intravenous Azythromycin therapy is considerably more expensive than oral therapy. The investigators believe that intravenous therapy is prolonged more that necessary and that oral therapy can be used much earlier in the course of the disease. The investigators plan to check if that statement is true and intervene in order to shorten the intravenous therapy.

Clinical Trial Description

The study will be performed in two stages. First a retrospective review of medical files of 50 patients hospitalized in the Haemek Medical Center with severe community acquired pneumonia, treated with azythromycin. The files will be reviewed for the criteria clinical improvement, and for azythromycin therapy, oral or intravenous.

The results of this review will help us define the appropriate behavioral intervention in order to cause doctors to transfer from IV to PO therapy at the earliest appropriate time. An intervention such as posters, pharmacy overseeing etc will be introduced. 3 months after the intervention, an additional 50 files of pneumonia patients treated with azythromycin will be reviewed in order to check the efficacy of the intervention.

The Review board and the NIH will be updated about the intervention, as soon as the investigators have decided what intervention is appropriate ;

Study Design

Intervention Model: Single Group Assignment, Masking: Open Label, Primary Purpose: Treatment

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Pneumonia

• NCT number: NCT01741909
• Study type: Interventional
• Source: HaEmek Medical Center, Israel
• Status: Withdrawn
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: December 2012
• Completion date: December 2015