For people with a CRB-65 score of 3 or more, arrange urgent admission to hospital.
For people with a CRB-65 score of 2, arrange same-day assessment in secondary care. Secondary care options include short-stay inpatient treatment or hospital-supervised outpatient treatment.
For people with a CRB-65 score of 1, consider arranging same-day assessment in secondary care.
For people with a CRB-65 score of 0, treatment at home is usually appropriate, depending on clinical judgement (for example the stability of any comorbid illness) and available social support.
Reference: Lim WS, van der Eerden MM, Laing R, et al. (2003) Defining community-acquired pneumonia severity on presentation to hospital: an international derivation and validation study. Thorax 58: 377–82