Here is a new anthology worth checking out: ICU
Resource Allocation in the New Millennium - Will We Say "No"? (Springer 2013).
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. Leading healthcare experts, including critical care physicians, critical
care nurses, ethicists, and attorneys, provide snapshots of current ICU
resource allocation in 12 developed countries on which other experts then draw
to analyze resource allocation and consumer demand at the level of the global
medical village. The process is repeated with an eye toward the future
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. Structured as a dialogue, the book is a great starting point
for serious discussion about the looming issue of ICU healthcare resource
allocation.
Here is the table of contents:
Part I Contrasts in
Global Health Care Resource Allocation
1 Australia: Where Have
We Been? ........................................................ 3
Ian M. Seppelt
2 Brazil: Where Have We
Been? .............................................................. 11
Frederico Bruzzi de
Carvalho, Álvaro Réa Neto,
Rodrigo Ferreira Simões,
and Monica Viegas Andrade
3 Canada: Where Have We
Been? ........................................................... 17
Christopher James Doig
4 Germany: Where Have We
Been? ........................................................ 25
Thomas Kerz
5 India: Where Have We
Been? ............................................................... 33
Farhad Kapadia, Atul P.
Kulkarni, and J.V. Divatia
6 Israel: Where Have We
Been? .............................................................. 39
Eran Segal
7 Italy: Where Have We
Been? ................................................................ 47
Marco Luchetti and
Giuseppe A. Marraro
8 The Netherlands: Where
Have We Been? ........................................... 59
Frank H. Bosch
9 New Zealand: Where
Have We Been? ................................................. 65
Stephen Streat
10 South Africa: Where
Have We Been? .................................................. 75
R. Eric Hodgson and
Timothy C. Hardcastle
11 United Kingdom: Where
Have We Been? ........................................... 89
Anna M. Batchelor
12 United States—Private
Practice: Where Have We Been? .................. 97
John W. Hoyt
13 United
States—Academic Medicine: Where Have We Been? ............ 101
David W. Crippen
14 Australia: Where Are
We Going? ......................................................... 107
Ian M. Seppelt
15 Brazil: Where Are We
Going? .............................................................. 113
Rubens Costa-Filho
16 Canada: Where Are We
Going? ........................................................... 123
Randy S. Wax
17 Germany: Where Are We
Going?......................................................... 131
Thomas Kerz
18 India: Where Are We
Going? ................................................................ 139
Farhad Kapadia and J.V.
Divatia
19 Italy: Where Are We
Going? ................................................................. 145
Marco Luchetti and
Giuseppe A. Marraro
20 The Netherlands:
Where Are We Going? ............................................ 157
Frank H. Bosch
21 New Zealand: Where
Are We Going? .................................................. 161
Stephen Streat
22 South Africa: Where
Are We Going? ................................................... 169
Ross Hofmeyr
23 United Kingdom: Where
Are We Going? ............................................ 177
Andrew Thorniley
24 United States—Private
Practice: Where Are We Going?................... 185
John W. Hoyt
25 United
States—Academic Medicine: Where Are We Going? ............ 189
Mark Mazer
26 Re fl ections on the
Demand for Critical Care in the
Global Medical Village
.......................................................................... 197
Timothy G. Buchman and
Donald W. Chal fi n
27 First Critique of
Buchman and Chal fi n’s Analysis ............................. 209
Leslie P. Scheunemann
and Douglas B. White
28 Second Critique of
Buchman and Chal fi n’s Analysis ......................... 217
Lynn Barkley Burnett
29 Third Critique of
Buchman and Chal fi n’s Analysis ........................... 227
Charles L. Sprung
30 Fourth Critique of
Buchman and Chal fi n’s Analysis ......................... 235
Richard Burrows
Part II The Fair and
Equitable Health Care Act
31 The Fair and
Equitable Health Care Act ............................................. 247
David W. Crippen
32 First Critique of the
Fair and Equitable
Health Care Act
......................................................................................
251
Michael A. Rie and W.
Andrew Kofke
33 Fixing the Foundation
of Critical Care at the End-Stage of Life:
Second Critique of the
Fair and Equitable Health Care Act ............. 261
Jack K. Kilcullen
34 Third Critique of the
Fair and Equitable Health
Care Act
..................................................................................................
277
Leslie M. Whetstine
Part III Legal and
Nursing Viewpoints
35 Medical Judgment
Versus Capitulation ............................................... 287
Gilbert Ross
36 Nursing Aspects of
Inappropriate Patient Care .................................. 293
Melanie S. Smith
Part IV Conclusions
37 Where Is “Universal”
Health Care Headed
in the Global
Village?.............................................................................
299
Michael A. Kuiper and
Steven M. Hollenberg
38 The New Shape of
Intensive Care In the USA..................................... 315
Derek C. Angus
39 Health Care in the
Year 2050 ................................................................ 323
Brian Wowk
"Battling to get recognition for futility policies does not hold much promise of resolving the hardest battles at the bedside. Improving how we communicate about course of care does." Caplan rightly urges that our energies are better focused on improving clinician-patient communication. 
"Battling to get recognition for futility policies does not hold much promise of resolving the hardest battles at the bedside. Improving how we communicate about course of care does." Caplan rightly urges that our energies are better focused on improving clinician-patient communication. 
