Decision making in the critically ill patient.

In the preceding discussion we have attempted to set forth some realistic guidelines for the primary care physician in the critical care area. We feel that he is of utmost importance in setting the tone for his patient's care. He is the first physician to be called when his patient becomes critically ill. He decides whether or not consultation is needed immediately. He should choose appropriate consultants, trying to provide required expertise and compatible personalities to relate with his patient and the patient's family. His work does not end with establishing roles and delivering care. He is the single most important physician when difficult ethical and medicolegal decisions must be made. He is the physician who knows the patient and the patient's family best. They look to him for guidance and decision making about their health care. He is best able to discuss the wishes and desires of the patient if the patient becomes unable to decide for himself. The primary care physician can be extremely helpful when the appropriate medical decision is to withhold therapy. He can comfort and console the family and help them realize that the proper decisions have been made. His previous close relationship with the patient and family makes difficult decisions much easier to accept. He is also of primary importance when trying to provide care to a patient who ostensibly refuses such care. The trust he has earned in the past because of the care he was provided allows him to be much more forceful than the subspecialist who may have been on the case for 1 or 2 days. He can be the difference between survival and death merely by his presence and advice. Other difficult decisions are always made easier by a primary physician who can relate to the consultants as well as the patient and his family. In conclusion, we feel that the technologic advances of the past 30 years have tended to drive the primary care physician away from the critical care unit. This is mostly because of a need for particular expertise to run the machines of medicine. One cannot be expected to become or remain an expert in primary care and critical care medicine. The primary care physician should not feel or be excluded from the critical care area. His knowledge of general medicine and his expertise in interpersonal and family relationships allow him to provide the much needed "high touch" component of "high tech" critical care medicine.