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As the U.S. population ages, demand for intensive care services is growing. At the same time, providers who care for critically ill patients are in short supply. Concern has been raised that, as intensive care unit (ICU) staff and providers are strained, patient outcomes will suffer. Investigators examined >200,000 patients admitted to 107 U.S. hospitals (155 ICUs) to assess the effects of three types of capacity strain: acuity, census, and admissions. Most hospitals were urban (59%) and community-based (72%), and most employed an open-ICU model without mandatory critical care (70%).
Three percent of patients were readmitted to ICUs within 72 hours of discharge to the floor. An increase of one patient in census was associated with a 3% incre…