The use of a CIS and improving data completeness do decrease severity-adjusted mortality rates. However, this explains only one fifth of the improvement in measured outcomes of intensive care in Finland.

IntroductionThe length of stay (LOS) in intensive care unit (ICU) nonsurvivors is not often reported, but represents an important indicator of the use of resources. LOS in ICU nonsurvivors may also be a marker of cultural and organizational differences between units. In this study based on the national intensive care registries in Finland, Sweden, and Norway, we aimed to report intensive care mortality and to document resource use as measured by LOS in ICU nonsurvivors.MethodsRegistry data from 53,305 ICU patients in 2006 were merged into a single database. ICU nonsurvivors were analyzed with regard to LOS within subgroups by univariate and multivariate analysis (Cox proportional hazards regression).ResultsVital status at ICU discharge was available for 52,255 patients. Overall ICU mortality was 9.1%. Median LOS of the nonsurvivors was 1.3 days in Finland and Sweden, and 1.9 days in Norway. The shortest LOS of the nonsurvivors was found in patients older than 80 years, emergency medical admissions, and the patients with the highest severity of illness. Multivariate analysis confirmed the longer LOS in Norway when corrected for age group, admission category, sex, and type of hospital. LOS in nonsurvivors was found to be inversely related to the severity of illness, as measured by APACHE II and SAPS II.ConclusionsDespite cultural, religious, and educational similarities, significant variations occur in the LOS of ICU nonsurvivors among Finland, Norway, and Sweden. Overall, ICU mortality is low in the Scandinavian countries.

The main contribution of this paper is an encryption system for web applications, where the encryption is done on the client side. By a web application we mean an application that uses a web browser as a user interface and the content is in HTML or equivalent.In our application the client creates and stores an encryption key. The data is always encrypted when in transit through the transport media, and cannot be decrypted on the server without an explicit consent of the client. Even a malicious server software cannot be used to disclose the confidential data. Furthermore, the client will detect any attempt to tamper with the encrypted data.We show how to create a web application that uses client side encryption and key generation. Our approach delivers confidentiality, integrity, and user trust. Furthermore it doesn't require any additional hardware or any software installations on the client side.

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