Dive Brief:
-
An average of 7.5 patients per day per intensive care unit (ICU) provider represented an optimal patient-to-intensivist ratio (PIR), according to a study published by JAMA Internal Medicine.
-
Researchers considered data from 49,000 adult patients treated at 94 ICUs in the United Kingdom and determined wide variation in PIR from one hospital to the next.
- Improved understanding of relationships between hospital personnel decisions and patients could help healthcare executives to determine optimal staffing levels.
Dive Insight:
Hospitals generally dedicate significant resources, including personnel, to ICUs to account for the complex care that ICU patients generally require. However, it is not necessarily clear that more physicians means better care for ICU patients.
It would seem to make sense the more patients an ICU provider sees in a day, the worse their outcomes are overall. This is true to a degree, according to the researchers. As PIR ratios rose above 7.5, patient outcomes declined. However, outcomes also declined as PIR ratios fell below 7.5. Factors including provider training and experience, IC structure, ancillary staffing, and patient populations likely play a role in results placing optimal PIR at 7.3.
While the study had limitations and may not be generalizable outside the United Kingdom, the researchers suggest an average of 7.5 patients per day per ICU provider could be a potential “sweet spot” for PIR. Finding that sweet spot could help healthcare executives to make more effective personnel decisions, especially as they look to address issues with burnout and difficulty staffing clinical positions.