A critical care organization (CCO) has governance over at least the majority of intensive care units (ICUs) in a hospital or healthcare system. CCOs may be called departments, centers, institutes, or service lines. CCOs are important because they allow formerly siloed ICUs to come together to offer collective resources and improve patient care. The CCO model:
- Provides more efficient access to the ICU for acutely ill patients
- Helps contain hospital costs by standardizing technologies across ICUs with resultant savings from volume-based equipment and supply purchases
- Implements local and national patient safety and quality initiatives through protocols
- Creates improved accessibility for staff and fellow training
- Enhances critical care medicine research through superior enrollment opportunities
- Fosters improved recruitment and retention of staff through a more stable workplace environment
The CCO KEG includes administrators, advanced practice providers, nurses, pharmacists, physicians, and respiratory therapists with a shared interest in bringing together all ICUs under the same leadership with defined accountability. Members collaborate to create solutions to advance CCO development in their hospitals and hospital networks.
Cochairs John M. Oropello, MD, FACP, FCCP, FCCM, and Stephen M. Pastores, MD, MACP, FCCP, FCCM