February 15, 2012, 11:29 AM

Clinical staff spent significantly less time with intensive care unit patients at the end of rounds as compared with the beginning, preliminary results from a small clinical study showed.

The time decreased by about a minute per patient as clinical staff members made rounds in a 12-bed cardiothoracic intensive care unit (ICU). Comparison of the first four and last four patients seen on rounds produced a statistically significant difference in the time spent with physicians and other participants in rounds.

The implications of the declining face time, including the impact on patient outcomes, remain unclear but will be examined in future phases of the ongoing study, Laura Jones, PhD, said here at the Society of Critical Care Medicine meeting.

Read more at: http://tinyurl.com/87hpce9

Source: MedPage Today