Patients who require indwelling arterial or pulmonary artery catheters are considered inappropriate for placement in the NRCU. Patients may be ventilated through tracheostomy or translaryngeal tubes. Microprocessor-based ventilators are used, allowing for extensive monitoring of patient and ventilator functions. Newer modes of ventilation are available as potential weaning aides and/or alternative forms of ventilatory support.
Methods
All patients admitted to the NRCU at Rush-Presbyterian-St. Lukes Medical Center between July 1, 1987 and June 30, 1988 were identified. Demographic information, diagnoses, and outcomes were available for each patient from a unit log book. Data regarding length of hospitalization, duration of ventilation, hospital costs, payments, payors, and profit/loss calculations were obtained through an in-house computerized data base (This system is capable of merging medical record abstracts with detailed billing information).
Hospital costs (excluding physician fees) were obtained by multiplying billed charges by cost-to-charge ratios. In our analysis, 138 different cost-to-charge ratios were used to estimate costs of care for each patient.