Organisation and Management of Intensive Care: A Prospective Study in 12 European Countries (Update in Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine, 29)

ISBN 10: 3642643280 / ISBN 13: 9783642643286

Published by Springer, 2011

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Bibliographic Details

• Title: Organisation and Management of Intensive Care: A Prospective Study in 12 European Countries (Update in Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine, 29)
• Publisher: Springer
• Publication Date: 2011
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 3642643280
• ISBN 13: 9783642643286
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: Like New
• Book Type: book

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Synopsis

From the viewpoint of a health economist, the intensive care unit (leU) is a particularly fascinating phenomenon. It is the epitome of "high-tech" medicine and frequently portrayed as the place where life-saving miracles are routinely wrought. But the popular imagina­ tion is also caught up in the darker side, when agonizing decisions have to be made to avoid futile and inhuman continuation of expen­ sive treatments. My analytical interests led me to approach these issues by asking what the evidence tells us about which leu activities are very bene­ ficial in relationship to their costs and which are not. This quickly translates into a slightly different question, namely, which patients are most appropriately treated in an leu and which not. Unfor­ tunately, it is very hard to answer these questions because it has pro­ ved very difficult to investigate these issues in the manner which is now regarded as the "gold standard:' namely by conducting rando­ mized clinical trials or alternative courses of action. I think this is a pity, and I am not at all convinced that it would be unethical to do so in many cases, because there is wide variation in practice and ge­ nuine doubt as to which practices are best -the two conditions that need to be fulfilled before such a trial is justifiable.