Table 1.

Description of patients and medication orders

	AICU	CICU	Total
Number of admissions	304	326	630
Number of unique patients	294	322	610
Patient age in years: mean, ±SD	59 ± 18	64 ± 13	61 ± 16
Patient gender: % female	44%	43%	43%
Patient ethnicity: % white	94%	96%	95%
Days in the ICU: mean ±SD; range	9 ± 9; 1–67	5 ± 4; 1–35	7 ± 7; 1–67
Study period in days	119	72	191
Patient-days	2643	1504	4147
Medication orders	27817	17841	45658
Orders per patient-day: mean, ±SD	11.4 ± 4.4	12.4 ± 5.0	11.9 ± 4.8
Orders per admission: mean, ±SD	91.5 ± 88.0	54.7 ± 46.8	72.5 ± 72.1