Critical Care Societies Endorse New Bill That Recognizes
Critical Care Workforce Shortage
Bipartisan Legislation Takes Aim at Critical Care Crisis
(NORTHBROOK, IL, FEBRUARY 28, 2007) – The Critical Care Workforce Partnership, a collaboration of the nation’s leading critical care societies, today endorsed The Patient-Focused Critical Care Enhancement Act. This legislation raises awareness among members of Congress and the general public about the importance of optimizing the delivery of critical care medicine and expanding the critical care workforce.
The Patient-Focused Critical Care Enhancement Act was introduced today in the US Senate by Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL) and Senator Mike Crapo (R-ID) and is based on the May 2006 Department of Health & Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) report that confirms the increased demand for current and future critical care services will be exacerbated by an imminent shortage of critical care providers. The proposed legislation authorizes $9 million in appropriations for research and projects that would begin to address the current and future burden imposed by the critical care workforce shortage.
“Whether caring for an aging parent or anticipating your own health-care issues, the need for critical care spans all ages and all generations,” said Mark J. Rosen, MD, FCCP, President of the American College of Chest Physicians. “The introduction of this bill is an initial step that will help the American College of Chest Physicians and other critical care societies achieve the ultimate goal of ensuring quality patient-focused critical care today and for years to come.”
Based on previous reports issued by the Critical Care Workforce Partnership, the HRSA report concluded that the demand for critical care services will increase rapidly due to the aging population, while the supply of critical care providers will fall further behind. Research indicates that intensivists provide better care for the critically ill, resulting in less mortality and shorter hospital stays. Due to the growing proportion of critically ill patients, the demand for optimal intensivist services will significantly increase. The HRSA report predicted, by 2020, the demand for intensivists would exceed the current number of intensivists by 129 percent. Because intensivists are more likely to provide care in large hospitals, the shortage of intensivists is likely to be worse for populations that already have limited access to physicians.
“Congress is taking the first step necessary to address the growing need for medical services to be provided in our nation’s intensive care units by doctors and nurses specifically trained in critical care," said John E. Heffner, MD, President of the American Thoracic Society. "Dozens of studies demonstrate that when critically ill patients are cared for by properly trained specialists, they recover faster and live longer. Now, the government has confirmed what intensive care physicians have long known: with the aging population, there is a growing gap between the supply of health-care professionals and the needs of patients that threatens the nation’s health.”
The legislation allocates $5 million for a formal assessment of critical care medicine by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to determine critical care best practices, which are to be reviewed and utilized by public health agencies and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The remaining $4 million would be allocated for specific demonstration projects, including family assistance programs for the critically ill and projects that demonstrate optimal critical care delivery.
“The American Association of Critical-Care Nurses is deeply concerned about the physician and nursing shortage,” said Mary Fran Tracy, RN, PhD, CCRN, CCNS, President of the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses. “Providing optimal care to acutely and critically ill patients and their families requires the expertise of both professions. The issues surrounding this dwindling health-care workforce must be addressed now and for the long term to ensure that the needs of acutely and critically ill patients can be met, now and in the future.”
The bill also amends existing telemedicine authorizations to promote efforts relating to critical care: (1) amends the Distance Learning and Telemedicine program of the Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities Service to authorize an additional $5 million in fiscal years 2008 to 2013 to focus on rural providers of inpatient critical care services; (2) amends HRSA’s Telehealth Network Grant program to make eligible for funding critical care services in inpatient settings. The proposed bill further amends the National Health Service Corps Act to authorize the recruitment of at least 50 new critical care providers per year to provide services to medically underserved areas.
“The delivery of high quality patient care through enhanced numbers of skilled critical care professionals is a goal of the Society of Critical Care Medicine, which will begin to be addressed by this pending legislation,” said Frederick P. Ognibene, MD, President of the Society of Critical Care Medicine. “The Society is dedicated to working with our professional and legislative partners to address the shortage of intensivists and other health-care professionals working in intensive care units.”
The Critical Care Workforce Partnership represents four medical societies whose more than 100,000 members are integral to critical care delivery: the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP), American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN), American Thoracic Society (ATS), and the Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM). For more information about the Critical Care Workforce Partnership, please contact the American College of Chest Physicians at (847) 498-8306 or visit the ACCP Web site at www.chestnet.org.
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