Main description:

Intensive care medicine is one of the fastest growing services provided by hospitals and perhaps one of the most expensive. Yet in response to the global financial crisis of the last few years, healthcare funding is slowing or decreasing throughout the world.

How we manage health care resources in the intensive care unit (ICU) now and in a future that promises only greater cost constraints is the subject of this book, the third in an informal series of volumes providing a global perspective on difficult issues arising in the ICU.

Taking 12 developed countries as their focus, leading experts provide a country-by-country analysis of current ICU resource allocation. A second group of experts use the chapters as a departure point to analyze current ICU resource allocation at the level of the global medical village. The process is repeated, but with an eye toward the future - first country by country, then at the global level - that takes into account initiatives and reforms now underway.

A fictional healthcare plan, the "Fair & Equitable Healthcare Plan," is put forth to address weaknesses in existing approaches, and healthcare experts and ethicists are invited to respond to its often provocative provisions.

Itself structured as a dialogue, the book is an excellent way to start or to continue serious discussion about the allocation of ICU healthcare resources now and in the years ahead.

Contents:

Foreword

by Jean-Louis Vincent

Introduction

by David W. Crippen

Part I. Contrasts in Global Health Care Resource Allocation

1. Australia: Where Have We Been?

by Ian Seppelt

2. Brazil: Where Have We Been?

by Frederico Bruzzi de Carvalho, Alvaro Rea-Neto, Rodrigo Ferreira Simoes, and Monica Viegas Andrade

3. Canada: Where Have We Been?

by Christopher James Doig

4. Germany: Where Have We Been?

by Thomas Kerz

5. India: Where Have We Been?

by Farhad Kapadia, Atul P. Kulkarni, and J.V Divatia

6. Israel: Where Have We Been?

by Eran Segal

7. Italy: Where Have We Been?

by Marco Luchetti and Giuseppe A. Marraro

8. The Netherlands: Where Have We Been?

by Frank Bosch

9. New Zealand: Where Have We Been?

by Stephen Streat

10. South Africa: Where Have We Been?

by R. Eric Hodgson and Timothy C Hardcastle

11. United Kingdom: Where Have We Been?

by Anna M. Batchelor

12. United States, Private Practice: Where Have We Been?

by John W. Hoyt

13. United States, Academic Medicine: Where Have We Been?

by David W. Crippen

14. Australia: Where Are We Going?

by Ian Seppelt

15. Brazil: Where Are We Going?

by Rubens Carmo Costa Filho

16. Canada: Where Are We Going?

by Randy S. Wax

17. Germany: Where Are We Going?

by Thomas Kerz

18. India: Where Are We Going?

by Farhad Kapadia and J.V. Divatia

19. Italy: Where Are We Going?

by Marco Luchetti and Giuseppe A. Marraro

20. The Netherlands: Where Are We Going?

by David W. Crippen

21. New Zealand: Where Are We Going?

by Stephen Streat

22. South Africa: Where Are We Going?

by Ross Hofmeyr

23. United Kingdom: Where Are We Going?

by Andrew Thorniley

24. United States, Private Practice: Where Are We Going?

by John W. Hoyt

25. United States, Academic Medicine: Where Are We Going?

by Mark Mazer

26. Analysis of the Demand for Health Care in the Global Medical Village

by Timothy G. Buchman and Donald W. Chalfin

27. First Critique of Buchman and Chalfin's Conclusions

by Leslie P. Scheunemann and Douglas B. White

28. Second Critique of Buchman and Chalfin's Conclusions

by Lynn Barkley Burnett

29. Third Critique of Buchman and Chalfin's Conclusions

by Charles L. Sprung

30. Fourth Critique of Buchman and Chalfin's Conclusions

by Richard Burrows

Part II. The Fair and Equitable Health Care Act

31. The Fair and Equitable Health Care Act (FEHCA)

by David W. Crippen

32. First Critique of the Fair and Equitable Health Care Act (FEHCA)

by Michael A. Rie and W. Andrew Kofke

33. Fixing the Foundation of Critical Care at the End-stage of Life

by Jack K. Kilcullen

34. Third Critique of the Fair and Equitable Health Care Act (FEHCA)

by Leslie M. Whetstine

Part III. Legal and Nursing Viewpoints

35. Medical Judgment Versus Capitulation

by Gilbert Ross

36. Nursing Aspects of Inappropriate Patient Care

by Melanie S. Smith

Part IV. Conclusions

37. Where Is "Universal" Health Care Headed in the Global Village?

by M. A. Kuiper and Steven M. Hollenberg

38. The New Shape Of Intensive Care In The United States

by Derek C. Angus

39. Health Care in the Year 2050

by Brian Wowk

Afterword

by David W. Crippen