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Hi it’s Patrik Hutzel from www.intensivecareathome.com.au where we provide tailor made solutions for long-term ventilated Adults& Children with Tracheostomy by improving their Quality of life and where we also provide tailor made solutions to hospitals and Intensive Care Units to save money and resources, whilst providing Quality Care!

In last week’s BLOG I shared

“HOW TO ACHIEVE SUSTAINABLE FUNDING FOR LONG-TERM VENTILATED ADULTS& CHILDREN WITH TRACHEOSTOMIES!”

You can check out last week’s blog here.

In this week’s blog I want to share

“WHAT TO DO IF THERE ARE NO OR FEW PERCEIVED ALTERNATIVES FOR LONG-TERM VENTILATED ADULTS& CHILDREN WITH TRACHEOSTOMIES IN INTENSIVE CARE!”

Whenever Intensive Care Units in Australia are dealing with long-term ventilated adults& children with tracheostomies, one thing has always stood out to me.

Intensive Care Units are limiting their thinking and they believe the only way to look after them is in Intensive Care!

This limited thinking leaves few or no perceived alternatives for long-term ventilated adults& children with tracheostomies!

Current limiting Intensive Care paradigms still only suggest that a critically ill Patient will leave Intensive Care

1. to recover and go to a hospital ward
2. to leave Intensive Care after death has occurred and after they have passed away

Australian Intensive Care Units are still 20 years behind in their thinking and their paradigms, compared to other first world countries!

Long-term ventilated adults& children with tracheostomies in other first world countries- in Germany in particular, as well as in Australia with INTENSIVE CARE AT HOME’s services– have a genuine alternative to leave Intensive Care and go home instead of unnecessarily spending many weeks or many months- sometimes even years- in Intensive Care!

Specialised and accredited services are key to make a seamless transition from ICU to home possible

This is what’s possible when specialised services like INTENSIVE CARE AT HOME provide the care required for long-term ventilated adults& children with tracheostomies and enable Patients to leave Intensive Care whilst being ventilated with tracheostomy!

This improves the quality of life and/or quality of end of life for long-term ventilated adults& children with tracheostomies and their families!

This also reduces the massive costs for long-term ventilated adults& children with tracheostomies who have the second highest ranking costs attached to their stay in Intensive Care in Australia, only after LVAD insertion.

Most  long-term ventilated adults& children with tracheostomies fall into the category of DRG’s AO6A and AO6B and the “Independent National Hospital Cost Data Collection for Australian public hospitals” has identified that the cost for DRGs AO6A and AO6B in Intensive Care are the second highest ranking for all costs in Australia, after LVAD insertion.

You can check out the data here

 http://www.ihpa.gov.au/internet/ihpa/publishing.nsf/Content/nhcdc-cost-rep-2010-2011.htm~2-summary~2-4-admitted-acute-results~2-4-5-20-top-drgs

But more importantly, the paradigm shift that needs to occur besides the massive cost implications when looking after long-term ventilated adults& children with tracheostomies in Intensive Care are that we don’t do long-term ventilated adults& children with tracheostomies and their families any favour by unnecessarily keeping them in Intensive Care for longer than necessary.

INTENSIVE CARE AT HOME’s services, as well as studies have shown that once a long-term ventilated child with tracheostomy is medically stable and off inotropes and the only reason they stay in Intensive Care is their ventilator dependency, they can safely be looked after at home.

Related link:

INTENSIVE CARE AT HOME- Evidence based approach

Therefore, the argument that long-term ventilated adults& children with tracheostomies can’t or shouldn’t be looked after at home, doesn’t count and most Australian Intensive Care Units need to evaluate their paradigms and their thinking!

Other countries, such as Germany have been successfully providing Intensive Home Care for long-term ventilated adults& children with tracheostomies as a genuine alternative to a long-term stay in Intensive Care for now 20 years.

The health industry in Germany , Intensive Care Units and health funding agencies have realised- a long time ago- that

• expenses for long-term ventilated adults& children with tracheostomies in Intensive Care are no longer sustainable

• Expenses for long-term ventilated adults& children with tracheostomies are sustainable in the home with the right support structure and the right mindset

• Patients and their families improve their quality of life in their own home

• Intensive Care Units benefit by having more resources, staff and beds available

• Patients and their families have and should always have a choice if they don’t want to stay in Intensive Care and a genuine alternative exists to a long-term stay in Intensive Care by going home with a specialised service like INTENSIVE CARE AT HOME

Considering all these facts, there is a lot of evidence that long-term ventilated adults& children with tracheostomies should be going home whenever possible and not stay in Intensive Care for longer than necessary and block an expensive, scarce and “in-demand” ICU bed!

What are your thoughts?

Do you think that long-term ventilated adults& children with tracheostomies and their families have few or no perceived options but to stay in Intensive Care for many weeks or many months?

Leave your comments on the blog here.

We are also currently hiring enthusiastic and experienced Intensive Care nurses with Critical Care certificate for ventilated Clients in Melbourne.

We would also like to hear from you if you have a minimum of 2 years Paediatric ICU experience, as we have opportunities here as well!

For more information check out our Career section here www.intensivecareathome.com.au/careers or contact Patrik on 041 094 2230 or simply send me an email to [email protected]

You can also contact me on 041 094 2230 if you want to know more about how we can help you, your Intensive Care Unit and your Patients and Families.

Thank you for tuning into this week’s blog.

This is Patrik Hutzel from INTENSIVE CARE AT HOME and I see you again next week in another update!