| Actions and Directives | | more-intensive treatment that is, hospitalization |
| where appropriate and available, intensive in-home health care services |
| Use Severity-of-illness scores, such as the CURB-65 criteria to identify patients with CAP who may be candidates for out- patient treatment. |
| Supplement objective criteria or scores with physician determination of subjective factors, including ability to safely and reliably take oral medication and availability of outpatient support resources |
| Direct admission to an ICU is required |
| Direct admission to an ICU or high-level monitoring unit |
| a constellation of suggestive clinical features is required for the diagnosis of pneumonia |
| a demonstrable infiltrate by chest radiograph or other imaging technique is required for the diagnosis of pneumonia |
| Patients with CAP should be investigated for specific pathogens |
| Routine diagnostic tests to identify an etiologic diagnosis are optional for outpatients with CAP. |
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