• Jan-Peter Braun, Hanswerner Bause, Frank Bloos, Götz Geldner, Marc Kastrup, Ralf Kuhlen, Andreas Markewitz, Jörg Martin, Hendrik Mende, Michael Quintel, Klaus Steinmeier-Bauer, Christian Waydhas, Claudia Spies, and NeQuI (quality network in intensive care medicine).
• Dept. of Anaesthesiology and Surgical Intensive Care Medicine, Charité - University Medicine Berlin, Germany. jan.braun@charite.de
• Ger Med Sci. 2010 Jan 1;8:Doc23.

AbstractCritical care medicine frequently involves decisions and measures that may result in significant consequences for patients. In particular, mistakes may directly or indirectly derive from daily routine processes. In addition, consequences may result from the broader pharmaceutical and technological treatment options, which frequently involve multidimensional aspects. The increasing complexity of pharmaceutical and technological properties must be monitored and taken into account. Besides the presence of various disciplines involved, the provision of 24-hour care requires multiple handovers of significant information each day. Immediate expert action that is well coordinated is just as important as a professional handling of medicine's limitations.Intensivists are increasingly facing professional quality management within the ICU (Intensive Care Unit). This article depicts a practical and effective approach to this complex topic and describes external evaluation of critical care according to peer reviewing processes, which have been successfully implemented in Germany and are likely to gain in significance.

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