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Intensivists bring experience to critical care medicine: research shows their presence in the ICU improves outcomes, yet most hospitals are without these specialists.

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THE INTENSIVE CARE UNIT (ICU) is, in any ways, the most significant section of a hospital, because it is where life-threatening issues occur almost daily. The ICU is the one area where most hospitals don't employ specialists--board-certified intensivists with expertise and training in critical care medicine.

Scientific evidence suggests that quality of care in the ICU is strongly influenced by whether intensivists are providing that care, according to the Leapfrog Group, leading the organization to recommend that hospitals staff their ICUs with trained intensivists.

Intensivists spend their time exclusively in the ICU and are immediately available when complications arise in a patient's condition.

"Intensivists are specifically trained to handle critical care patients," says Barbara Rudolph, director, leaps and measures, for the Leapfrog Group. "Most ICU patients have suffered traumatic events or experienced system failure. Intensivists are trained to quickly identify and treat these patients to prevent further complications."

In ICUs without trained intensivists, an attending physician typically makes rounds once a day and is called if an emergency occurs. There is no ongoing physician presence in these ICUs.

"On a practical level, well-meaning...

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