What Conclusions Should Be Drawn between Critical Care Physician Management and Patient Mortality in the Intensive Care Unit?
Authors: William T. McGee
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (2008)

LettersNovember 18, 2008What Conclusions Should Be Drawn between Critical Care Physician Management and Patient Mortality in the Intensive Care Unit?William T. McGee, MD, MHAWilliam T. McGee, MD, MHAFrom Baystate Medical Center, Tufts University School of Medicine, Springfield, MA 01199.Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-149-10-200811180-00019 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail TO THE EDITOR:Both the accompanying editorial (1) and the discussion of the findings of Levy and colleagues (2) provide multiple possible explanations to elucidate the association between intensivists' care and mortality. Project IMPACT may not capture other organizational aspects of the various ICU models and health care systems or hospitals studied that can influence outcome (3).Regardless, considering the experience of working solely in the ICU, hospital mortality is an important outcome parameter for some ICU patients, but this is not true for all ICU patients. Taken to its logical extreme, 0% mortality by this analysis under any staffing ...References1. Rubenfeld GD and Angus DC. Are intensivists safe? [Editorial]. Ann Intern Med. 2008;148:877-9 LinkGoogle Scholar2. Levy MM, Rapoport J, Lemeshow S, Chalfin DB, Phillips G, and Danis M. Association between critical care physician management and patient mortality in the intensive care unit. Ann Intern Med. 2008;148:801-9 LinkGoogle Scholar3. Teres D, Higgins T, Steingrub J, Loiacono L, McGee W, and Circeo L; Defining a high-performance ICU system for the 21st century: a position paper. J Intensive Care Med. 1998;13:195-205. CrossrefGoogle Scholar4. von Gunten CF, Ferris FD, and Emanuel LL. The patient–physician relationship. Ensuring competency in end-of-life care: communication and relational skills. JAMA. 2000;284:3051-7. [PMID: 11122596] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar5. Brody H, Campbell ML, Faber-Langendoen K, and Ogle KS. Withdrawing intensive life-sustaining treatment recommendations for compassionate clinical management. N Engl J Med. 1997;336:652-7. [PMID: 9032053] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar6. Angus DC, Musthafa AA, Clermont G, Griffin MF, Linde-Zwirble WT, and Dremsizov TT; Quality-adjusted survival in the first year after the acute respiratory distress syndrome. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2001;163:1389-94. [PMID: 11371406] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar7. Eichenwald EC and Stark AR. Management and outcomes of very low birth weight. N Engl J Med. 2008;358:1700-11. [PMID: 18420502] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAffiliations: From Baystate Medical Center, Tufts University School of Medicine, Springfield, MA 01199.Disclosures: None disclosed. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsSee AlsoAssociation between Critical Care Physician Management and Patient Mortality in the Intensive Care Unit Mitchell M. Levy , John Rapoport , Stanley Lemeshow , Donald B. Chalfin , Gary Phillips , and Marion Danis Are Intensivists Safe? Gordon D. Rubenfeld and Derek C. Angus What Conclusions Should Be Drawn between Critical Care Physician Management and Patient Mortality in the Intensive Care Unit? Constantine Manthous and Yaw Amoateng-Adjepong What Conclusions Should Be Drawn between Critical Care Physician Management and Patient Mortality in the Intensive Care Unit? Paul Marik , John Myburgh , Djillali Annane , Jean-Louis Vincent , Stephen Pastores , G. Umberto Meduri , and Albertus Beishuizen What Conclusions Should Be Drawn between Critical Care Physician Management and Patient Mortality in the Intensive Care Unit? Marya D. Zilberberg and Andrew F. Shorr What Conclusions Should Be Drawn between Critical Care Physician Management and Patient Mortality in the Intensive Care Unit? Mitchell M. Levy , John Rapoport , Stan Lemeshow , Gary Phillips , Donald B. Chalfin , and Marion Danis What Conclusions Should Be Drawn between Critical Care Physician Management and Patient Mortality in the Intensive Care Unit? Tihomir Stefanec What Conclusions Should Be Drawn between Critical Care Physician Management and Patient Mortality in the Intensive Care Unit? Joris J. Arends and Jan P. Vandenbroucke What Conclusions Should Be Drawn between Critical Care Physician Management and Patient Mortality in the Intensive Care Unit? Andrew A. Quartin , Roland M.H. Schein , and Cynthia M. Cely What Conclusions Should Be Drawn between Critical Care Physician Management and Patient Mortality in the Intensive Care Unit? Michael Blumhardt What Conclusions Should Be Drawn between Critical Care Physician Management and Patient Mortality in the Intensive Care Unit? Thomas L. Higgins , Brian Nathanson , and Daniel Teres Metrics November 18, 2008Volume 149, Issue 10Page: 769-770KeywordsBirth weightIntensive care unitsPatients ePublished: 18 November 2008 Issue Published: November 18, 2008 Copyright & PermissionsCopyright © 2008 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF downloadLoading ...