Purpose of the review This review highlights recent evidence describing the outcomes associated with fluid overload in critically ill patients and provides an overview of fluid management strategies aimed at preventing fluid overload during the resuscitation of patients with shock. Recent findings Fluid overload is a common complication of fluid resuscitation and is associated with increased hospital costs, morbidity and mortality. Summary Fluid management goals differ during the resuscitation, optimization, stabilization and evacuation phases of fluid resuscitation. To prevent fluid overload, strategies that reduce excessive fluid infusions and emphasize the removal of accumulated fluids should be implemented.

Improving value within critical care remains a priority because it represents a signifi cant portion of health-care spending, faces high rates of adverse events, and inconsistently delivers evidence-based practices. ICU directors are increasingly required to understand all aspects of the value provided by their units to inform local improvement eff orts and relate eff ectively to external parties. A clear understanding of the overall process of measuring quality and value as well as the strengths, limitations, and potential application of individual metrics is critical to supporting this charge. In this review, we provide a conceptual framework for understanding value metrics, describe an approach to developing a value measurement program, and summarize common metrics to characterize ICU value. We fi rst summarize how ICU value can be represented as a function of outcomes and costs. We expand this equation and relate it to both the classic structure-process-outcome framework for quality assessment and the Institute of Medicine's six aims of health care. We then describe how ICU leaders can develop their own value measurement process by identifying target areas, selecting appropriate measures, acquiring the necessary data, analyzing the data, and disseminating the fi ndings. Within this measurement process, we summarize common metrics that can be used to characterize ICU value. As health care, in general, and critical care, in particular, changes and data become more available, it is increasingly important for ICU leaders to understand how to eff ectively acquire, evaluate, and apply data to improve the value of care provided to patients.

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