To meet the growing need for a short-stay alternative for ED patients who require continued observation and further therapeutic intervention or diagnostic work-up, Cooper University Hospital has recently opened a 20-bed telemetry ready Clinical Decision Unit (CDU).
Equipped with state-of-the-art diagnostic, therapeutic, and monitoring capabilities, the Cooper CDU is managed 24/7 by the Division of Hospital Medicine, in conjunction with registered nurses and critical care technicians. The Cooper CDU offers observation status patients access to the full range of medical and surgical subspecialties at Cooper University Hospital.
The benefits of a CDU are well established. Caring for observation status patients in a localized CDU, where care is stream-lined results in decreased length of stay and improves patient flow throughout the hospital encounter. The monitored setting allows for more accurate diagnosis, facilitating both discharge of appropriate patients, and admission to the correct service for patients requiring inpatient care. Patient satisfaction is also significantly higher for patients admitted to a CDU, when compared to extended ED stays, or short-stay inpatient admissions.
“The Division of Hospital Medicine and the staff of the Cooper CDU are dedicated to providing the highest quality care in an efficient manner by a motivated multidisciplinary team,” says Kara Aplin, M.D., Medical Director of the Cooper CDU. “We have found that at Cooper and across the country up to 40% of patients in observation status may ultimately require hospital admission. In the framework of the CDU, we can safely expedite the movement of patients toward either appropriate discharge or hospital admission.”
For more information or to contact the Cooper CDU, please call: 856.361.1699.