Can an antimicrobial stewardship program reduce length of stay of immune-competent adult patients admitted to hospital with diagnosis of community-acquired pneumonia? Study protocol for pragmatic controlled non-randomized clinical study

BackgroundPneumonia is responsible for a large proportion of hospital admissions and antibiotic utilization. Physician adherence to evidence-based pneumonia management guidelines is poor. Antimicrobial stewardship programs (ASPs) are an effective intervention to mitigate against unwarranted variation from these guidelines. Despite this benefit, ASPs have not been shown to reduce the length of stay of hospitalized patients with pneumonia. In …