Title |
Does intermediate care improve patient outcomes or reduce costs?
|
---|---|
Published in |
Critical Care, December 2015
|
DOI | 10.1186/s13054-015-0813-0 |
Pubmed ID | |
Authors |
Jean-Louis Vincent, Gordon D Rubenfeld |
Abstract |
ICUs are an essential but expensive part of all modern hospitals. With increasingly limited healthcare funding, methods to reduce expenditure without negatively influencing patient outcomes are, therefore, of interest. One possible solution has been the development of 'intermediate care units', which provide more intensive monitoring and patient management with higher nurse:patient ratios than the general ward but less than is offered in the ICU. However, although such units have been introduced in many hospitals, there is relatively little published, especially prospective, evidence to support the benefits of this approach on costs or patient outcomes. We review the available data and suggest that, where possible, a larger unit with combined intermediate care and intensive care beds in one location may be preferable in terms of greater flexibility and efficiency. |
X Demographics
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Puerto Rico | 2 | 22% |
United Kingdom | 2 | 22% |
Greece | 1 | 11% |
Canada | 1 | 11% |
Unknown | 3 | 33% |
Demographic breakdown
Type | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Science communicators (journalists, bloggers, editors) | 3 | 33% |
Practitioners (doctors, other healthcare professionals) | 3 | 33% |
Members of the public | 2 | 22% |
Scientists | 1 | 11% |
Mendeley readers
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Unknown | 113 | 100% |
Demographic breakdown
Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Researcher | 16 | 14% |
Other | 15 | 13% |
Student > Master | 13 | 12% |
Student > Ph. D. Student | 7 | 6% |
Student > Doctoral Student | 6 | 5% |
Other | 21 | 19% |
Unknown | 35 | 31% |
Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Medicine and Dentistry | 54 | 48% |
Nursing and Health Professions | 14 | 12% |
Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 2 | 2% |
Immunology and Microbiology | 1 | <1% |
Economics, Econometrics and Finance | 1 | <1% |
Other | 3 | 3% |
Unknown | 38 | 34% |