Clinical and investigative medicine. Médecine clinique et experimentale
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Our objective was to determine the extent to which Intensive Care Unit (ICU) physicians are aware of charges for commonly used blood tests. We also wished to ascertain ICU physicians' perception of their motivation for, and appropriateness of, test ordering. Attending physicians and Internal Medicine residents in four university-affiliated ICUs in Hamilton were surveyed using a self-administered questionnaire. ⋯ Physicians perceived that they pay insufficient attention to the risk of anemia and to issue of cost. Their feeling that test ordering in the ICU is excessive suggests that they may be open to modifying their practice. Given the large proportion of hospital resources allocated to the intensive care unit, interventions to decrease test ordering are warranted.