Herritt B, et al. - Researchers, in this study, assessed the ICU and hospital costs associated with early vs late tracheostomy in mechanically ventilated patients. In addition to already known benefits of early tracheostomy in terms of ventilator dependent days, reduced length of stays, decreased pain, and improved communication, findings of this study revealed that early tracheostomy can significantly reduce direct variable and likely total hospital costs in the ICU based on length of stay alone.