title: Costs of critical care medicine.
abstract: The main drivers of critical care medicine (CCM) costs are the numbers and use of intensive care unit (ICU) beds. The Russell equation, an indirect costing methodology, is most commonly used to estimate national CCM costs. Calculating national CCM costs in a standardized manner remains challenging because there is no universal approach to defining the types of hospitals, ICU beds, days, and billing codes to be included in the overall cost. Although numerous CCM cost-containment strategies have been proposed or implemented, CCM cost reduction remains elusive, and measuring cost remains challenging,given the complexities involved in assessing costs.
authors: Department of Medicine and Anesthesiology, Weill Medical College of Cornell University, New York, NY 10065, USA. pastores@mskcc.org
authors: Stephen M
authors: SM
authors: Pastores
authors: Jubran
authors: J
authors: Dakwar
authors: Neil A
authors: NA
authors: Halpern
mesh_terms: D003363:Cost Control; D003422:Critical Care / Q000191:economics*; D016208:Databases, Factual / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017048:Health Care Costs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007362:Intensive Care Units / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014481:United States