Economics and outcome in the intensive care unit

Medical care costs represent a large proportion of the gross domestic product in developed countries, and intensive care units (ICUs) consume a significant amount of those resources. The aim of this review is to analyze how the healthcare cost problem is studied in critically ill patients.

Permanent staffing and other overhead costs have the greatest impact on ICU costs. A growing number of studies from around the world are quantifying the costs of ICU care. Mechanical ventilation, particularly in severely ill patients, and sepsis management are responsible for much of the economic burden in the ICU. New expensive therapies and life support systems make formal economic analyses necessary.

Although economic justification should not be the only issue to influence treatments offered in the ICU, increasing use of tools such as cost-benefit analyses is needed to help with medical decisions on the critically ill patient.