ToolsCalculators
CEDOCS score for emergency department overcrowding
Regression-based estimate of overcrowding severity in community emergency departments.
CEDOCS score for emergency department overcrowding
Critical care patients currently in the ED
patients
Longest boarding time among admitted patients still in the ED
hours
Patients currently in the waiting room
patients
Total patients currently in the ED (all locations)
patients
Total licensed/staffed ED treatment beds
beds
ED annual patient visit volume
visits/yr
Complete the fields above to see the result.
When to use
- Quantifying real-time overcrowding in a community (non-academic) emergency department.
- Tracking crowding trends over time to trigger surge protocols.
Formula
CEDOCS = -29.53 + 3.14 x (critical care patients) + 0.52 x (longest admit wait, hours) + 1.14 x (waiting-room patients) + 20.55 x (total ED patients / ED beds) + 0.00124 x (ED annual visit volume). Negative results are reported as 0 ("not busy"). Bands: 0-20 not busy, 21-60 busy, 61-100 extremely busy, 101-140 overcrowded, 141-180 severely overcrowded, >180 dangerously overcrowded.
Pearls and pitfalls
- Derived by multivariable linear regression against physician/charge-nurse visual-analogue crowding ratings across 13 California community hospitals.
- Unlike NEDOCS, CEDOCS was calibrated across a wide range of annual ED volumes (18,000-98,000 visits/year) and does not require inpatient bed counts.