Ohio HealthCare News

Hospital observation units prove efficient, cost-effective
(Columbus Dispatch © 02/03/2010)
You might have been sick enough to go to a hospital where doctors kept you overnight, but as far as your insurance company is concerned, you were an outpatient. When doctors aren't sure whether to send people home or admit them to the hospital, patients are left in a purgatory of sorts before a decision is made. It's called an "observation" period, and patients can be kept in the emergency dep...