ICU Resource Allocation in the New Millennium - Will We Say "No"?

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