ICU Resource Allocation in the New Millennium: Will We Say "No"? 2013th Edition

From the reviews:

“This monograph challenges the critical care community to evaluate the technical, moral, and financial limits of critical care. … Trainees, policy makers, and medical practitioners are an appropriate audience for this book, which features international perspectives on critical care resource utilization. … This book effectively frames the question of resource limitation and offers a short list of strategies to address this concern in the future.” (David J. Dries, Doody’s Book Reviews, April, 2013)

“Simply compelling! … dynamic, balanced, and stimulating … challenges readers to question ‘how things are done’ and ‘how things should be done’ in the ever changing financial and ethical world of the ICU. … not only a must read for ICU clinicians of all disciplines but also for health economists, health policy makers, ethicists and even the lay public.” (Richard J. Brilli, Critical Care Medicine, Vol. 41 (4), April, 2013)

“It would appeal to individuals with an interest in the different systems of health care delivery, particularly from a global perspective. This book would also serve as an excellent foundation for anyone researching various care models throughout the globe. … intensive care physicians who wrestle daily with questions on how to deliver care in a system with limited resources and ever expanding patient expectations will take great interest in this book.” (Donald Griesdale, Canadian Journal of Anesthesia/Journal canadien d’anesthésie, Vol. 60, 2013)

Intensive care medicine is one of the fastest growing services provided by hospitals and perhaps one of the most expensive. Yet in response to the global financial crisis of the last few years, healthcare funding is slowing or decreasing throughout the world.

How we manage health care resources in the intensive care unit (ICU) now and in a future that promises only greater cost constraints is the subject of this book, the third in an informal series of volumes providing a global perspective on difficult issues arising in the ICU.

Leading healthcare experts, including critical care physicians, critical care nurses, ethicists, and attorneys, provide snapshots of current ICU resource allocation in 12 developed countries on which other experts then draw to analyze resource allocation and consumer demand at the level of the global medical village. The process is repeated with an eye toward the future that takes into account initiatives and reforms now underway.

A fictional healthcare plan, the “Fair & Equitable Healthcare Plan,” is put forth to address weaknesses in existing approaches, and healthcare experts and ethicists are invited to respond to its often provocative provisions. Structured as a dialogue, the book is a great starting point for serious discussion about the looming issue of ICU healthcare resource allocation.