While the ImCU models described by Canetta et al. and Turcato et al. arise from Internal Medicine, their broader relevance to cardiology lies not in patient case-mix, but in the principle that intermediate care must be purposefully designed, with explicit surveillance standards, escalation triggers, and accountable transitions [1,2]. From the perspective of cardiac intensive care, these papers speak directly to where cardiogenic shock is won or lost: the interfaces between the emergency department, the catheterization laboratory, the CICU, and cardiac step-down care, where physiology often evolves faster than handovers.
