Panel A. Bacterial pneumonia
Panel B. Acute nasopharyngitis (common cold) and nonspecific upper respiratory infections
Panel C. Other acute respiratory infections
Notes: Bacterial pneumonia was defined as ICD-9 codes: 481, 482, 483, 485, 486, which should almost always require antibiotics; acute nasopharyngitis (common cold) and nonspecific upper respiratory infections were defined as ICD-9 codes: 460, 465, for which antibiotics typically should not be used; other acute respiratory infections were defined as ICD-9 codes: 461, 473, 462, 463, 466, 490, including sinusitis (ICD-9 461, 473), pharyngitis and tonsillitis (ICD-9 462, 463), and bronchitis (ICD-9 466, 490).
The sample in this figure excludes patients enrolled in MA-PD plans, since no medical claims information is available for these patients. Each of four regions includes the following states: Northeast: CT, ME, MA, NH, NJ, NY, PA, RI, VT; Midwest: IL, IN, IA, KS, MI, MN, MO, NE, ND, OH, SD, WI; South: AL, AR, DE, DC, FL, GA, KY, LA, MD, MS, NC, OK, SC, TN, TX, VA, WV; West: AK, AZ, CA, CO, HI, ID, MT, NV, NM, OR, UT, WA, WY.