Medical Staff

Hospitalists fill gap as intensivist numbers fall: The future of critical care is now

Medical Staff Briefing, April 1, 2010

This is an excerpt from a member only article. To read the article in its entirety, please login or subscribe to Medical Staff Briefing.

HLA sat down with Heisler to wrangle some of the most pressing questions hospitalist program leaders have regarding this growing trend:

HLA: Why is the critical care crisis hitting now?

MH: The number of intensivists is decreasing at the same time that demand for critical care services is increasing. The demand is increasing because there are more patients—namely baby boomers—going into those years where they are more likely to need critical care services. Another factor that contributes to the crisis is that, more and more hospitals want to become certified by The Leapfrog Group. One of Leapfrog's targets, called the ICU Physician Staffing Standard is designed to increase the intensivists in the ICU, so more hospitals are competing for fewer available intensivists.

This is an excerpt from a member only article. To read the article in its entirety, please login or subscribe to Medical Staff Briefing.

Most Popular

Related Articles