If the patient is in the emergency department, regardless of where they are in the ED they are considered an ED patient. The decision to admit is identified when the order to admit to inpatient is placed. ED departure is when the patient leaves the ED or transfers to the floor.

I'm looking for clarification on ED-2 times as it relates to observation patients for 2017 reporting year. We have an observation unit (CDU) that is part of our ED. Providers will write an order for Admit to CDU (ED Observation). The patient is then transferred to the CDU. If it is decided later to admit the patient to an inpatient unit, they will write a Decision to Admit order. The patient is then transferred out of the ED to the floor. For ED-2, should it calculate the decision to admit time to ED depart time as the time from the Admit to CDU order to transfer to CDU, or as the time from the Decision to Admit order to the transfer to the floor? In other words, is the time the patient is in the ED observation unit considered ED time? Or once they are transferred to CDU for observation is that equivalent to being transferred out of the ED?