Historically, patients who require services beyond the first hours in the emergency department (ED) have been admitted to the acute care hospital for further evaluation and treatment. Pressures for efficiency in health care have led to the need for new strategies for the care of patients who do not meet the clinical criteria for inpatient admission. As a result, observation units are increasingly becoming an important component of today's hospital service lines.

Current forces driving the proliferation of such units include:

1. Capacity and Overcrowding of ED and hospital beds
2. Financial and Regulatory Compliance including changing reimbursement and penalties
3. Quality and Liability

Unfortunately, there is no "instant" observation unit kit to which a hospital can just add staff and a few hundred square feet to create an effective and profitable observation unit that will run itself.

Hospitals planning on adding an observation unit should:

• Give serious thought to the resources they are willing to commit to the project
• Know that there is no substitute for good needs assessment, planning, execution and ongoing active management.

Mycron Medical Consultants, LLC. approaches the design of an observation unit by asking a set of simple questions that provide the foundation for a successful unit. According to the analysis of the answers, our team can draft a blue print of a unit that is indivisualized to your specific facilty.  Our action plan will include the keys to succes including:

• Recognition of roadblocks and how to avoid them
• Correct location and size of the unit
• Proper staffing
• Clearly defined admission criteria
• Standard disease specific treatment plans
• Quality assurance and utilization review programs
• Key performance measures and operational variables

If you are considering an observation unit for your hospital, we have the expertise to help you ask the correct questions in order to succed. Let us help you design a plan to achieve operational and financial success.