Two-Midnight Rule
In October 2013, the twomidnight rule (CMS-1599) was
put into effect. Observation care
is defined by CMS as a welldefined set of specific, clinically appropriate services. These
services include ongoing shortterm treatment and assessment/
reassessment provided while a
decision is being made whether
patients require further treatment
as inpatients or if they are able to
be discharged (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, 2014).
The two-midnight rule further
defines inpatient versus observation status by a defined amount
of time. Per
5L