A comparison of mortality and charges in two differently staffed intensive care units.
All patients entering the two differently staffed adult intensive care units (ICUs) of Baystate Medical Center were studied for a three-month period. In one unit, patients were cared for by medical and surgical resident teams specifically assigned to the ICU, who were supervised by private and teaching ICU attending physicians; patients admitted to the other ICU were cared for entirely by private physicians. Significantly lower hospital mortality rates were observed in the resident-staffed ICU for three categories of patients. Median charges for the two groups of ICU patients were either the same or higher for the resident-staffed ICU when controlling for levels of condition and treatment variables.
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005249:Fees and Charges; D006746:Hospital Bed Capacity, 500 and over; D006801:Humans; D007362:Intensive Care Units / Q000458:organization & administration*; D007902:Length of Stay; D008404:Massachusetts; D008505:Medical Staff, Hospital; D008875:Middle Aged; D009026:Mortality; D010559:Personnel Management; D010561:Personnel Staffing and Scheduling; D012769:Shock / Q000401:mortality