Fixing acuity: a professional approach to patient classification and staffing.

Traditional acuity systems have met with limited success in hospitals. The requirements and high costs of installation, auditing, maintenance, and updating have been problematic criticisms. Intermountain Health Care developed an innovative system which focuses on and refines the professional judgment and decision making of nurses and caregivers as the basis for patient classification and staffing. Results have been favorable for: (a) increasing the usefulness and accuracy of the information, (b) enabling delivery-level innovation in staffing models and successfully considering and testing alternative care delivery models to reduce the costs of care, (c) reducing the expenses associated with maintaining, auditing, and updating the systems, and (d) fostering delivery-level ownership and enhancing the professionalism and satisfaction of the caregiver users.