The Lasting Aftereffects of Sepsis
Sepsis is truly an insidious condition with effects that go beyond the disease itself. The additional dangers are highlighted in a recent Wall Street Journal article, Hospitals Take On Post-ICU Syndrome, Helping Patients Recover; Especially at Risk Are Those Treated for Sepsis and Who Experience 'ICU Delirium'. Patients with sepsis are at higher risk of facing 'ICU delirium', a type of brain injury associated with prolonged treatment of the disease in a critical care setting due to heavy sedation and prolonged aid of a ventilator. Patients also contend with recurring aftereffects even while recovering at home. Some to the point of it being comparable to a bout with cancer or recovery from a heart attack or stroke.
MCIRCC member and UM Critical Care physician Theodore J. Iwashyna, MD, PhD, is quoted in the article, "We can do better at figuring out who we can help, so functional and cognitive impairments don't become permanent disabilities." Dr. Iwashyna is currently studying survivorship after critical-care illness.
The Implications of the Affordable Care Act on Critical Care
MCIRCC member and UM Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine, Colin Cooke, MD, MSc, MS, co-authored the article, Use of Intensive Care Services and Associated Hospital Mortality After Massachusetts Healthcare Reform. It was published November 25, 2013 in Critical Care Medicine. With so many Americans signing up for health insurance through the Affordable Care Act, many feared costly critical care admissions would increase.
The study, led by researchers from Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and Cooke, at the University of Michigan Medical School, found that, "increasing the number of insured patients was not associated with higher intensive care unit (ICU) usage in Massachusetts."
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