Impact of Nighttime Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit Staffing on Failure to Rescue and Revenue

Failure to rescue (FTR) is mortality after at least 1 postoperative complication. We investigated the impact of nighttime intensivist staffing and FTR after cardiac surgery.

We included patients who underwent cardiac surgery to examine FTR, defined as mortality in those who experienced a Society of Thoracic Surgeons-defined major complication. Era 2 (July 2021-June 2023) and era 1 (July 2016-June 2021) were characterized by the presence and absence of nighttime intensivists staffing, respectively. Complications and FTR rates, daily intensive care unit (ICU) census, and relative value units (RVUs) were compared.

Among 5654 patients, 17% (284 of 1661) in era 2 had at least 1 complication vs 19% (769 of 3993) in era 1 (P = .057). Among patients with complications, FTR incidence was 8% (22 of 284) in era 2 vs 19% (145 of 769) in era 1 (P < .001). The daily average ICU census did not change (12.3 in era 2 vs 12.0 in era 1, P = .386). Comparing mean annual RVUs during the 2 fiscal years in era 2 (35,613 per year) with what would have been expected based on the last 2 fiscal years of era 1 (26,744 per year), a significant increase of +8870 per year was observed (95% CI, 3876-13,863, P = .028). Multivariable analyses found no difference in the risk of major complications comparing era 2 vs era 1 (odds ratio, 1.04; 95% CI, 0.89-1.23; P = .602), and a 59% reduction in FTR risk in era 2 vs era 1 (odds ratio, 0.41; 95% CI, 0.25-0.67; P < .001).

Nighttime ICU coverage reduced FTR rates in postcardiotomy patients while complication rates and ICU census remained stable. Furthermore, the increase in RVUs suggested an economically sustainable model.