Utilization strategies for intensive care units
Article Abstract:
The high cost of intensive care units (ICUs) requires expert management of scarce medical resources. The decision to use ICU facilities is based on both the medical status of a patient and the availability of ICU/critical care beds. When ICU facilities are overburdened, the needed services may be 'rationed' by allocating scarce health care resources among competing individuals. Substantial evidence suggests that critical care in the U.S. is being rationed, and that intensive care is not being provided to all patients who would benefit from it. Furthermore, research shows that hospitals may ration ICU beds even when a shortage of beds does not exist. Evidence suggests that rationing, as it is now practiced, is biased and inequitable. One strategy for increasing the supply of critical care beds has been the early discharge of those patients who are regarded as no longer requiring critical care. A focus on revising discharge policies may be more reasonable than a focus on admission policies as a means of apportioning critical care beds.
Publication Name: JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0098-7484
Year: 1989
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Health Care Fraud and Abuse
Article Abstract:
Many states and the federal government are actively prosecuting cases of health care fraud. Health care fraud includes submitting false insurance claims, receiving kickbacks for influencing the purchase of health care goods or services, and receiving money for referring patients to a facility in which the doctor has a financial interest. Federal laws include the False Claims Act, the Anti-Kickback statute, and the Ethics in Patient Referral Act. Many states also have similar laws. Violation of the law can result in fines and penalties, loss of license or staff privileges, exclusion from participation in federal health care programs and even imprisonment.
Publication Name: JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0098-7484
Year: 1999
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AIDS in a medical intensive care unit: immediate prognosis and long-term survival
Article Abstract:
AIDS patients should probably be admitted to medical intensive care units (MICUs) on the same basis as any other gravely ill patient. Among 120 AIDS patients consecutively admitted to a Paris MICU, 86 were discharged alive. Of those discharged, 86% survived one week, 82% one month, 53% six months, and 39% one year. Survival to discharge from the MICU was related to severity of illness at time of admission whereas long-term survival was related to severity of AIDS. The survival to discharge rate was similar to that of non-AIDS patients.
Publication Name: JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0098-7484
Year: 1996
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