Critical Care

official impact factor 4.60

Commentary

The impact of critical care outreach: is there one?

Brian H Cuthbertson

Author Affiliations

Clinical Senior Lecturer in Critical Care and Consultant in Intensive Care Medicine, Health Services Research Unit, Health Sciences Building, University of Aberdeen, Foresterhill, Aberdeen AB25 2ZD, UK

Critical Care 2007, 11:179 doi:10.1186/cc6179

Published: 30 November 2007

Abstract

An evaluation of critical care outreach services was published in the previous issue of Critical Care that fails to demonstrate any important outcome benefit associated with these services. It is now time to ask some difficult questions about the future of outreach, including whether the lack of evidence should lead to disinvest-ment in such services.