Critical care medicine is the care of patients whose illnesses or injuries present a significant danger to life, limb, or organ function. Personnel who provide critical care includes physicians, nurses, respiratory therapists, and pharmacists, among others, whose specialized training prepares them to care for such severe illnesses and injuries.

The Roundtable has brought together some of the best and brightest minds in critical care to establish a consensus on policy options that can address these challenges, and to advocate for legislative and regulatory changes that can improve efficiencies, costs, and outcomes for the millions of Americans who require critical care.

While many successful initiatives and programs currently exist, the Roundtable is of the opinion that more must be done to support the critical care medical field, especially in light of the recent H1N1 pandemic. We are encouraged by the changes presented by officials in both Congress and the Administration, and welcome these efforts to address the vital needs of critical care. We encourage more debate and action on these and other items, all for the improvement of critical care.

News from the Roundtable

Following a very successful event on October 7th, 2009, the Roundtable on Critical Care Policy coordinated a Congressional Staff briefing to release the thoughtful recommendations resulting from the October event to federal policymakers.The briefing took place on Dec. 8th in the Rayburn House Office Building, and was followed by additional meetings on the Hill with both Members and staff to further brief them on these recommendations and potential action.

The recommedations are available here.

The press release is available here.