Joint position statement: Essential provisions for critical care in health system reform

Abstract

Production of a statement defining the essential provisions of health system reform as determined by the Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM) and the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN). This document is the only nurse-physician joint statement to result from the 1994 health system reform debate. A joint SCCM-AACN working group developed the document. Working group members referenced position papers previously developed by SCCM and AACN. Working group members refined drafts of the statement until a consensus was reached. Final versions of the paper were reviewed and endorsed by the SCCM Council and the AACN Board of Directors. SCCM and AACN agreed that health system reform should ultimately achieve universal coverage, access, control cost, and should improve the quality of care. SCCM and AACN endorsed improved access to and coverage for preventive care services. Recognizing that critical illness and injury cannot be prevented entirely, SCCM and AACN agreed that a reformed system must foster improved care of the critically ill and injured as described below. (Crit Care Med 1994; 22:2017-2019)