Critical Care Medicine

Medical Intensive Care Unit

Medical Intensive Care Unit

The Respiratory Institute’ Department of Critical Care Medicine manages and staffs the Medical Intensive Care Unit (MICU) at Cleveland Clinic. With a total of 64 beds across 5 nursing units and > 4000 admissions per year, it is one of the largest MICUs in the US. The unit is staffed by board-certified intensivists who provide in-house coverage 24 hours a day.

In 2021, the total number of admissions to the MICU at Cleveland Clinic main campus increased from 4403 patients in 2020 to 4482 patients. An average of 12 critically ill patients were admitted every day, with 22% of patients transferred from outside hospitals to receive advanced specialized critical care at the MICU. Cleveland Clinic’s critical care transport team is capable of bringing the sickest of patients from anywhere in the world.

Mean MICU APACHE® III Score

2019 – 2021

APACHE III = Acute Physiology And Chronic Health Evaluation, a severity-of-disease classification system, MICU = Medical Intensive Care Unit

The acuity and complexity of the patient population remain high as demonstrated by the overall APACHE III acuity score. Cleveland Clinic’s MICU APACHE III mean score of 66.58 is well above the national average of 54.5 from a large adult population that reflects the current practice of critical care in the US.¹

Reference

  1. Lilly CM, Zuckerman IH, Badawi O, Riker RR. Benchmark data from more than 240,000 adults that reflect the current practice of critical care in the United States. Chest. 2011 Nov;140(5):1232-1242.
MICU Standardized Mortality Ratio (Observed to Expected)

2019 – 2021

APACHE III = Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation, a severity-of-disease classification system, MICU = Medical Intensive Care Unit

MICU Admissions – Main Campus

2019 – 2021

MICU = Medical Intensive Care Unit

MICU Admissions by Source - Main Campus

2019 – 2021

MICU = Medical Intensive Care Unit

The number of critically ill patients admitted remained stable. The source of admissions to the MICU has changed during the last 2 years, mainly due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. A considerable proportion of MICU patients arrive as transfers from outside institutions for management of complex critical care conditions.

MICU Length of Stay (Observed to Expected) Similar Hospitalsᵃ

2019 – 2021

LOS = length of stay, MICU = Medical Intensive Care Unit

ᵃSimilar hospitals (academic, quaternary care)

The length of stay in the MICU is slightly above the expected when compared with similar hospitals. MICU teams work daily to minimize patients' stay in the critical care environment and facilitate transitions to their next level of care and recovery.