title: Characteristics of hospital observation services: a society of cardiovascular patient care survey.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Little is known about the setting in which observation services are provided, or how observation patients are managed in settings such as accredited cardiovascular patient care centers.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To describe the characteristics of observation services in accredited Cardiovascular Patient Care hospitals, or those seeking accreditation.
  
  
  METHODS
  This is a cross-sectional survey of hospitals either accredited by the Society of Cardiovascular Patient Care, or considering accreditation in 2010. The survey was a web-based free service linked to an e-mail sent to Cardiovascular Patient Care coordinators at the respective institutions. The survey included 17 questions which focused on hospital characteristics and observation services, specifically management, settings, staffing, utilization, and performance data.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 789 accredited hospitals, 91 hospitals (11.5%) responded to the survey. Responding hospitals had a median of 250 inpatient beds (interquartile range [IQR] 277), 32.5 emergency department (ED) beds or hall spots, with an average annual ED census of 41,660 (IQR 30,149). These hospitals had an average of 8 (IQR 9) observation unit beds whose median length of stay (LOS) was 19 hours (IQR 8.1), with a discharge rate of 89.1% (IQR 15). There was an average of 1 observation bed to 3.8 ED beds. Observation units were most commonly administered by emergency medicine (48.5%), but staffed by a broad spectrum of specialties. Nonemergency medicine units had longer LOSs, which were not significant. Most common conditions were chest pain and abdominal pain.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Accredited chest pain centers have observation units whose LOSs and discharge rates are comparable to prior studies with utilization patterns that may serve as benchmarks for similar hospitals.
authors.affiliation: Emory University, Society of Cardiovascular Patient Care, Atlanta, GA, USA. anwaro@mac.com
authors.forename: Anwar
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Osborne
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Weston
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wheatley
authors.forename: Rachel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: O'Malley
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Leach
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pitts
authors.forename: Justin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Schrager
authors.forename: Kay
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Holmes
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ross
mesh_terms: D015746:Abdominal Pain / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy; D000068:Accreditation; D016507:Cardiology Service, Hospital / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000150:complications / Q000628:therapy*; D002637:Chest Pain / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay; D019370:Observation; D010351:Patient Discharge / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000078329:Workforce