ICU 2020: five interventions to revolutionize quality of care in the ICU.
Intensive care units (ICUs) are an essential and unique component of modern medicine. The number of critically ill individuals, complexity of illness, and cost of care continue to increase with time. In order to meet future demands, maintain quality, and minimize medical errors, intensivists will need to look beyond traditional medical practice, seeking lessons on quality assurance from industry and aviation. Intensivists will be challenged to keep pace with rapidly advancing information technology and its diverse roles in ICU care delivery. Modern ICU quality improvement initiatives include ensuring evidence-based best practice, participation in multicenter ICU collaborations, employing state-of-the-art information technology, providing point-of-care diagnostic testing, and efficient organization of ICU care delivery. This article demonstrates that each of these initiatives has the potential to revolutionize the quality of future ICU care in the United States.
Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, University of Michigan Medical Center, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
Kristy A
KA
Bauman
Robert C
RC
Hyzy
D002985:Clinical Protocols; D055317:Evidence-Based Practice; D006801:Humans; D007362:Intensive Care Units / Q000592:standards / Q000639:trends*; D019300:Medical Errors / Q000517:prevention & control*; D009936:Organizational Innovation; D061214:Patient Safety; D010561:Personnel Staffing and Scheduling; D019095:Point-of-Care Systems; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care / Q000379:methods*; D019984:Quality Indicators, Health Care; D017216:Telemedicine; D017749:Total Quality Management / Q000379:methods*; D014481:United States