Should Medical ICUs Have Nighttime Attending Staff?

A 24/7 intensivist staffing model shortened length of stay and lowered costs.

Staffing models in medical intensive care units (ICUs) vary widely, and published evidence is unclear about whether 24/7 in-house intensivist models lead to lower patient mortality and shorter lengths of stay (LOS) than do daytime-only models. In addition, economic implications of a 24/7 intensivist model have not been studied.

Researchers conducted a retrospective analysis of resource use and associated costs during 1 year before and 1 year after implementation of nighttime attending intensivist staffing (in addition to daytime intensivist coverage) at a 24-bed medical ICU affiliated with an academic medical center in Minnesota. The only intervention cost was compensation for 2.1 full-time–equivalent intensivists to cover nights. The invest…

Reviewing Authors

Arun V. Mohan, MD, MBA,

Daniel D. Dressler, MD, MSc, SFHM

Disclosures

RoyaltiesMcGraw-Hill; Elsevier

Editorial BoardsMedical Clinics of North America; Caribbean Medical Journal International Advisory Panel (2021–2026)

Daniel D. Dressler, MD, MSc, SFHM

Disclosures

RoyaltiesMcGraw-Hill; Elsevier

Editorial BoardsMedical Clinics of North America; Caribbean Medical Journal International Advisory Panel (2021–2026)