Critical Care Organizations: Building and Integrating Academic Programs

Objective: Academic medical centers in North America are expanding their missions from the traditional triad of patient care, research, and education to include the broader issue of healthcare delivery improvement. In recent years, integrated Critical Care Organizations have developed within academic centers to better meet the challenges of this broadening mission. The goal of this article was to provide interested administrators and intensivists with the proper resources, lines of communication, and organizational approach to accomplish integration and Critical Care Organization formation effectively. Design: The Academic Critical Care Organization Building section workgroup of the taskforce established regular monthly conference calls to reach consensus on the development of a toolkit utilizing methods proven to advance the development of their own academic Critical Care Organizations. Relevant medical literature was reviewed by literature search. Materials from federal agencies and other national organizations were accessed through the Internet. Setting: The Society of Critical Care Medicine convened a taskforce entitled "Academic Leaders in Critical Care Medicine" on February 22, 2016 at the 45th Critical Care Congress using the expertise of successful leaders of advanced governance Critical Care Organizations in North America to develop a toolkit for advancing Critical Care Organizations. Measurements and Main Results: Key elements of an academic Critical Care Organization are outlined. The vital missions of multidisciplinary patient care, safety, and quality are linked to the research, education, and professional development missions that enhance the value of such organizations. Core features, benefits, barriers, and recommendations for integration of academic programs within Critical Care Organizations are described. Selected readings and resources to successfully implement the recommendations are provided. Communication with medical school and hospital leadership is discussed. Conclusions: We present the rationale for critical care programs to transition to integrated Critical Care Organizations within academic medical centers and provide recommendations and resources to facilitate this transition and foster Critical Care Organization effectiveness and future success. Supplemental digital content is available for this article. Direct URL citations appear in the printed text and are provided in the HTML and PDF versions of this article on the journal's website (http://ift.tt/29S62lw). Dr. Masur received support for article research from the National Institutes of Health, and he disclosed government work. Dr. Coopersmith's institution received funding from the Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM) as the president-elect of SCCM in 2014 and president in 2015. An honorarium for time spent in this role was paid to Emory University. Dr. Pastores received funding from Winthrop University Hospital, NY (Medical Grand Rounds) and New York Hospital Queens (Medical Grand Rounds), and he received other support from Theravanxe (Advisory Board Meeting). The remaining authors have disclosed that they do not have any potential conflicts of interest. For information regarding this article, E-mail: moorje@ccm.upmc.edu Copyright © by 2017 by the Society of Critical Care Medicine and Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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