title: Potentially ineffective care: time for earnest reexamination.
abstract: The rising costs and suboptimal quality throughout the American health care system continue to invite critical inquiry, and practice in the intensive care unit setting is no exception. Due to their relatively large impact, outcomes and costs in critical care are of significant interest to policymakers and health care administrators. Measurement of potentially ineffective care has been proposed as an outcome measure to evaluate critical care delivery, and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act affords the opportunity to reshape the care of the critically ill. Given the impetus of the PPACA, systematic formal measurement of potentially ineffective care and its clinical, economic, and societal impact merits timely reconsideration.
authors.affiliation: Inova Health System, 8110 Gatehouse Road, Suite 600, West Tower, Falls Church, VA 22042, USA ; Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Inova Fairfax Medical Campus, 3300 Gallows Road, Falls Church, VA 22042, USA.
authors.forename: William L
authors.initials: WL
authors.lastname: Jackson
authors.affiliation: Inova Health System, 8110 Gatehouse Road, Suite 600, West Tower, Falls Church, VA 22042, USA.
authors.forename: Joseph F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Sales