CMS Finalizes New ED Timeliness Measure, Reporting Starts 2027
CMS has finalized a new electronic clinical quality measure, Emergency Care Access and Timeliness (ECAT), to track delays and gaps in emergency department care. The measure captures four access failures: waits over 60 minutes before placement in a treatment area, patients leaving without being seen, boarding over four hours after an admission decision, and total ED length of stay exceeding eight hours. Voluntary reporting begins January 1, 2027, with mandatory reporting starting January 1, 2028, and CMS is expected to add ECAT to Care Compare and tie it to Star ratings. Becker's Hospital Review spoke with Yale emergency medicine chief Arjun Venkatesh and ESO CEO Eric Beck, who say hospitals should begin diagnosing local throughput and boarding issues now rather than waiting for mandatory compliance.