M2301 — Emergent Care
Response options, how to score it, and the error that most often sends the record back. Cited to Ch. 3, Item M2301.
Response options
| Value | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 0 | No |
| 1 | Yes, used hospital emergency department WITHOUT hospital admission |
| 2 | Yes, used hospital emergency department WITH hospital admission |
| UK | Unknown |
How to score it
Covers only hospital emergency department visits (including observation/holding status) at or since the most recent SOC/ROC assessment — urgent care clinics, doctor's office visits, and ambulance-only encounters don't count. Code 0 if the patient went straight to inpatient admission without first being seen or held in the ED. Code 1 for an ED visit followed by release, including an observation 'hold' of any length (holds can run longer than 23 hours). Code 2 only when the ED visit led to a qualifying hospital admission (an inpatient stay of 24+ hours for reasons other than diagnostic testing). Dash is not a valid response for this item.
The common error
Coding 0 for an ED 'hold'/observation stay that never converted to a full inpatient admission — CMS treats any hold-then-release as code 1 regardless of how many hours the hold lasted, not as 'no ED use.'
Source: OASIS-E2 Guidance Manual — Ch. 3, Item M2301. Verified 2026-04-26.
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