Center for Health Data and Analysis

Emergency Department (ED) and Observation (OBS) Data

The Rhode Island Department of Health (HEALTH), Center for Health Data and Analysis collects data on all emergency department visits and observations stays in Rhode Island beginning with discharges on January 1, 2005. Emergency Department and Observation data is collected through a system of hospital-based reporting established by regulations promulgated by HEALTH under its licensure authority (R.I.G.L. 23-17 “Licensing of Health Care Facilities”. Hospital licensure regulations, section 17-5, require hospitals to report patient-level data on all ED visits and OBS stays. Coding specifications for ED and OBS data reporting can be found in the Rhode Island Emergency Department Data Reporting Manual and Rhode Island Observation Services Data Reporting Manual, respectively.

Public Use Data File

Information regarding access to ED and OBS public use data files will be provided when public use data files are available (anticipated June 2006).