The CMS two-midnight rule and other financial incentives have spurred hospitals to classify more stays as outpatient observation and build new short-stay spaces within their facilities, according to an article on the Health Facilities Management website.
Settings that can house short-stay patients include observation units (OUs), post-procedural areas and universal care units (UCUs).
For instance, At Kettering Indu & Raj Soin Medical Center in Beavercreek, Ohio, the 20-bed UCU is central to multiple feeder departments, but has no exterior views or windows.
A skylit interior garden provides respite for waiting families just outside the unit.
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